Abigania advances to match play at 2025 IBF Youth World Cup
June 19, 2025
Connor Fleming of Fort Worth, Texas, and Katelyn Abigania of San Diego finished up qualifying at the 2025 IBF Youth World Cup at Olympia Bowling in Helsingborg, Sweden, on Thursday. Abigania advanced to match play in the women's division while Fleming's competition came to an end after a 23rd-place finish in the final men's qualifying standings.
INFORMATION AND RESULTS
HELSINGBORG, Sweden – Katelyn Abigania of San Diego advanced to round-robin match play to keep Junior Team USA’s medal hopes alive at the 2025 International Bowling Federation Youth World Cup, which is being contested at Olympia Bowling in Helsingborg, Sweden.
The 18-year-old right-hander reached the women’s Round of 16 thanks to a three-day, 18-game qualifying total of 3,591 (a 199.5 average).
Abigania opened qualifying with 1,095 on Tuesday before bouncing back with a stellar set of 1,353 during Round 2 on Wednesday.
The strong second-round effort moved Abigania all the way up to sixth place and well inside the cut line in the 31-player women’s field heading into Thursday’s final round of qualifying.
Knowing that she would only need a modest closing block in order to advance, Abigania was free to use Round 3 to experiment a bit in order to gain a clearer picture of what the demanding 43-foot Youth World Cup oil pattern might ask of her and her fellow competitors during the remaining rounds of this year’s tournament.
As such, the two-time Junior Gold champ tried some different bowling balls and paths to the pocket on Thursday. When all was said and done, Abigania finished qualifying with games of 170, 253, 165, 178, 211 and 166 to post 1,143 for the day and conclude the women’s preliminary round in eighth place.
The top three qualifiers were defending Youth World Cup women’s champion Elena Weinstok of Costa Rica (3,881), Denmark’s Karen Nielsen (3,787) and Germany’s Fiona Lindemann (3,743).
Ivanna Emire Villalobos Erosa of Mexico finished 16th and secured the last advancing spot for match play in the women’s division with an 18-game total of 3,388 (a 188.22 average).
In men’s action, Slovakia’s Simon Hrusovsky finished atop the qualifying standings. The powerful right-hander got there by recording only three games under 200 and averaging more than 236 over the course of 18 games.
He was joined in the top three by Norway’s Mathias Otting (4,149) and Mate Balazs-Becsi of Romania (4,041).
Until Thursday, Hrusovsky also held the distinction of having rolled the highest game of the tournament, which was the 299 he authored during Game 2 of qualifying on Tuesday.
Hrusovsky’s mark fell on Thursday, however, when Estonia’s Siim Henrik Saar and Weinstok both connected for 12 strikes in a row to record perfect games. Saar’s 300 propelled him to a 10th-place finish with 3,951.
The final men’s match-play qualifier was Taylor Williams of Ireland, who made the cut in 16th position with an 18-game qualifying mark of 3,854 (a 214.11 average).
The 16 men and 16 women who advanced to round-robin play will bowl 15 matches, eight on Friday and the other seven on Saturday morning.
While Abigania will be taking part in the next round of competition, Junior Team USA counterpart Connor Fleming of Fort Worth, Texas, did not advance.
Fleming fought hard from start to finish and improved during each round of competition, opening with 1,206 and 1,233 during Rounds 1 and 2 before finishing with 1,265 on Thursday thanks to games of 213, 158, 248, 213, 191 and 242.
Unfortunately, those numbers weren’t enough to get Fleming through to the next round in the highly competitive 37-player men’s field. When the final shots had been thrown, Fleming finished in 23rd place with a three-day mark of 3,704 (a 205.78 average).
Despite not making it to match play, Fleming still enjoyed his bowling experience at the Youth World Cup, especially the on-lane camaraderie that developed between talented athletes from all over the world.
“I really liked meeting all the other countries’ participants,” Fleming said. “They’re all really friendly in addition to being great competitors. You really couldn’t ask for better people to bowl against.”
Fleming is a great competitor as well, and he intends to take what he learned during his 18 games at Olympia Bowling to become an even stronger foe going forward.
“I’m going to take a lot away from this experience,” Fleming said. “These guys are good, and they strike a lot. I think I need to keep working on playing different angles and knowing what balls to use and when.
“But now that I’m done, I’m just going to be the best teammate I can be for Katelyn (Abigania). I’m going to be here for all 15 games of round-robin match play and hopefully eight to 10 more after that as she makes her way to the podium.”
Abigania will certainly appreciate the support as she knows that she’ll have to be at her best on Friday and Saturday in order to leave Sweden with her fifth international medal – she collected four gold medals (doubles, trios, team and all-events) at the 2023 PANAM Bowling Youth Championships.
“I’m excited to have made match play, and I’m ready to bowl some more,” Abigania said. “To keep advancing, I’m going to need to make good shots, trust my process and make spares because that’s what will allow me to win matches.”
Abigania is grateful to have had the opportunity to experiment a bit on Thursday as she will now have more lane-play options at her disposal during the Round of 16 and beyond.
“It’s definitely helpful that we were able to experiment with some different bowling balls and try to change our lines a bit today,” Abigania said. “Still, we’re dropping a bunch of people and only bowling two to a pair tomorrow, so it will be a lot different. The game plan will change a little, but not too much.”
By beginning the next round in eighth place, Abigania is already inside the next cut line as only eight men and eight women will survive round-robin play and remain in medal contention when best-of-three-game matches are contested during the quarterfinal, semifinal and final rounds on Saturday afternoon.
Quarterfinal round matchups will see the No. 1 seed facing the No. 8 seed, the No. 2 seed battling the No. 7 seed and so on.
The four quarterfinal winners will advance to the semifinal round while those that fall will be eliminated.
Once the semifinals are completed, the two winners in each division will advance to bowl for gold and silver. The bowlers who come up short during the semis will square off to decide who takes home the men’s and women’s bronze medals.
After all medals have been conferred, the day will end with athletes and coaches taking part in the Victory Banquet, which will officially bring the tournament to a close.
To be eligible for the 2025 IBF Youth World Cup, athletes had to have been between the ages of 13 and 20 on Jan. 1, 2025.
For information and results from the 2025 IBF Youth World Cup, CLICK HERE.
CLICK HERE for more information on Junior Team USA.
INFORMATION AND RESULTS
HELSINGBORG, Sweden – Katelyn Abigania of San Diego advanced to round-robin match play to keep Junior Team USA’s medal hopes alive at the 2025 International Bowling Federation Youth World Cup, which is being contested at Olympia Bowling in Helsingborg, Sweden.
The 18-year-old right-hander reached the women’s Round of 16 thanks to a three-day, 18-game qualifying total of 3,591 (a 199.5 average).
Abigania opened qualifying with 1,095 on Tuesday before bouncing back with a stellar set of 1,353 during Round 2 on Wednesday.
The strong second-round effort moved Abigania all the way up to sixth place and well inside the cut line in the 31-player women’s field heading into Thursday’s final round of qualifying.
Knowing that she would only need a modest closing block in order to advance, Abigania was free to use Round 3 to experiment a bit in order to gain a clearer picture of what the demanding 43-foot Youth World Cup oil pattern might ask of her and her fellow competitors during the remaining rounds of this year’s tournament.
As such, the two-time Junior Gold champ tried some different bowling balls and paths to the pocket on Thursday. When all was said and done, Abigania finished qualifying with games of 170, 253, 165, 178, 211 and 166 to post 1,143 for the day and conclude the women’s preliminary round in eighth place.
The top three qualifiers were defending Youth World Cup women’s champion Elena Weinstok of Costa Rica (3,881), Denmark’s Karen Nielsen (3,787) and Germany’s Fiona Lindemann (3,743).
Ivanna Emire Villalobos Erosa of Mexico finished 16th and secured the last advancing spot for match play in the women’s division with an 18-game total of 3,388 (a 188.22 average).
In men’s action, Slovakia’s Simon Hrusovsky finished atop the qualifying standings. The powerful right-hander got there by recording only three games under 200 and averaging more than 236 over the course of 18 games.
He was joined in the top three by Norway’s Mathias Otting (4,149) and Mate Balazs-Becsi of Romania (4,041).
Until Thursday, Hrusovsky also held the distinction of having rolled the highest game of the tournament, which was the 299 he authored during Game 2 of qualifying on Tuesday.
Hrusovsky’s mark fell on Thursday, however, when Estonia’s Siim Henrik Saar and Weinstok both connected for 12 strikes in a row to record perfect games. Saar’s 300 propelled him to a 10th-place finish with 3,951.
The final men’s match-play qualifier was Taylor Williams of Ireland, who made the cut in 16th position with an 18-game qualifying mark of 3,854 (a 214.11 average).
The 16 men and 16 women who advanced to round-robin play will bowl 15 matches, eight on Friday and the other seven on Saturday morning.
While Abigania will be taking part in the next round of competition, Junior Team USA counterpart Connor Fleming of Fort Worth, Texas, did not advance.
Fleming fought hard from start to finish and improved during each round of competition, opening with 1,206 and 1,233 during Rounds 1 and 2 before finishing with 1,265 on Thursday thanks to games of 213, 158, 248, 213, 191 and 242.
Unfortunately, those numbers weren’t enough to get Fleming through to the next round in the highly competitive 37-player men’s field. When the final shots had been thrown, Fleming finished in 23rd place with a three-day mark of 3,704 (a 205.78 average).
Despite not making it to match play, Fleming still enjoyed his bowling experience at the Youth World Cup, especially the on-lane camaraderie that developed between talented athletes from all over the world.
“I really liked meeting all the other countries’ participants,” Fleming said. “They’re all really friendly in addition to being great competitors. You really couldn’t ask for better people to bowl against.”
Fleming is a great competitor as well, and he intends to take what he learned during his 18 games at Olympia Bowling to become an even stronger foe going forward.
“I’m going to take a lot away from this experience,” Fleming said. “These guys are good, and they strike a lot. I think I need to keep working on playing different angles and knowing what balls to use and when.
“But now that I’m done, I’m just going to be the best teammate I can be for Katelyn (Abigania). I’m going to be here for all 15 games of round-robin match play and hopefully eight to 10 more after that as she makes her way to the podium.”
Abigania will certainly appreciate the support as she knows that she’ll have to be at her best on Friday and Saturday in order to leave Sweden with her fifth international medal – she collected four gold medals (doubles, trios, team and all-events) at the 2023 PANAM Bowling Youth Championships.
“I’m excited to have made match play, and I’m ready to bowl some more,” Abigania said. “To keep advancing, I’m going to need to make good shots, trust my process and make spares because that’s what will allow me to win matches.”
Abigania is grateful to have had the opportunity to experiment a bit on Thursday as she will now have more lane-play options at her disposal during the Round of 16 and beyond.
“It’s definitely helpful that we were able to experiment with some different bowling balls and try to change our lines a bit today,” Abigania said. “Still, we’re dropping a bunch of people and only bowling two to a pair tomorrow, so it will be a lot different. The game plan will change a little, but not too much.”
By beginning the next round in eighth place, Abigania is already inside the next cut line as only eight men and eight women will survive round-robin play and remain in medal contention when best-of-three-game matches are contested during the quarterfinal, semifinal and final rounds on Saturday afternoon.
Quarterfinal round matchups will see the No. 1 seed facing the No. 8 seed, the No. 2 seed battling the No. 7 seed and so on.
The four quarterfinal winners will advance to the semifinal round while those that fall will be eliminated.
Once the semifinals are completed, the two winners in each division will advance to bowl for gold and silver. The bowlers who come up short during the semis will square off to decide who takes home the men’s and women’s bronze medals.
After all medals have been conferred, the day will end with athletes and coaches taking part in the Victory Banquet, which will officially bring the tournament to a close.
To be eligible for the 2025 IBF Youth World Cup, athletes had to have been between the ages of 13 and 20 on Jan. 1, 2025.
For information and results from the 2025 IBF Youth World Cup, CLICK HERE.
CLICK HERE for more information on Junior Team USA.