Abigania sits 18th, Fleming 26th after Day 1 of qualifying at 2025 IBF Youth World Cup
June 17, 2025
Photo courtesy of Kaitlyn Clark
Junior Team USA bowlers Katelyn Abigania of San Diego and Connor Fleming of Fort Worth, Texas, pose for a picture on the lanes at Olympia Bowling in Helsingborg, Sweden, host of the 2025 IBF Youth World Cup. Abigania finished Tuesday's opening round of qualifying in 18th place while Fleming landed in 26th.
INFORMATION AND RESULTS
HELSINGBORG, Sweden – Junior Team USA bowlers Katelyn Abigania of San Diego and Connor Fleming of Fort Worth, Texas, arrived in Sweden on Saturday.
The duo spent its first three days on foreign soil enjoying ferry rides to Denmark, exploring the charming host city and putting in some light practice on the lanes.
Things got much more serious on Tuesday, however, when Abigania and Fleming completed their opening six-game qualifying blocks at the 2025 International Bowling Federation Youth World Cup, which is being held at Olympia Bowling in Helsingborg.
Both Americans authored steady opening-round performances with Abigania coming in with a six-game total of 1,095 to place 18th in the 31-player women’s field while Fleming shot 1,206 to finish 26th among 37 men’s competitors.
Abigania, an 18-year-old right-hander, got there by averaging 182.5 at Olympia Bowling on Tuesday thanks to scores of 168, 178, 177, 186, 207 and 179.
Fleming earned his position by recording games of 195, 183, 197, 185, 255 and 191 on the challenging 43-foot IBF Youth World Cup oil pattern. That gave the 21-year-old two-handed righty an average of 201 on the day.
The top three spots in the men’s field on Day 1 went to Denmark’s Nicolas Carter (1,462), Mathias Otting of Norway (1,375) and Slovakia’s Simon Hrusovsky (1,348).
Hrusovsky began Game 2 of men’s qualifying with 11 strikes in a row before leaving a 7-pin on his final ball to finish with 299, which was the highest game recorded on Tuesday.
Defending Youth World Cup women’s champion Elena Weinstok of Costa Rica didn’t flirt with perfection on opening day; nevertheless, her six-game mark of 1,291 was tops in the women’s field during Round 1. She was joined in Tuesday’s top three by 2024 United States Bowling Congress Intercollegiate Singles Championships women’s champion Sara Duque of Colombia (1,278), who bowls collegiately for Wichita State, and Norway’s Jenny Mathiesen (1,244).
But while the spotlight generally shines brightest on those at the top of the standings, 16th place is the spot garnering the most attention in both divisions thus far as that is the position all athletes need to be at or inside of in order to make the cut at the conclusion of 18 games of qualifying at this year’s IBF Youth World Cup.
Singapore’s Brian Ngoi found himself in 16th place after the first round of men’s qualifying thanks to a six-game score of 1,261 (a 210.2 average) while Ivanna Emire Villalobos Erosa of Mexico (1,112) finished Tuesday holding lucky No. 16 for the women.
Despite finding themselves on the outside looking in on Tuesday, both Americans are confident they can use what they learned during Round 1 to ensure their best bowling lies ahead during the final two qualifying blocks on Wednesday and Thursday.
“You always have to be confident. I was confident going into today, and that hasn’t changed,” Abigania said. “I just have to make better decisions faster and trust my process.
“They were different than yesterday during practice. We were expecting that, but it made things a little harder today. Hopefully, tomorrow we’ll be more prepared.”
Fleming also attributed some of Tuesday’s grind to challenging lane play, particularly during Game 1.
“I started on a tricky pair, and that caused me to play maybe a little bit too far left,” Fleming said. “I tried to go off that, but the rest of the lanes really didn’t play the same. All I can do is try to learn from it and try to find a comfort zone in the next rounds.”
Although he’ll continue searching for comfort, like Abigania, Fleming still has confidence.
“I feel good,” Fleming said. “Coach Kelly (Kulick) and I are going to talk, and I think we’ll have a pretty good game plan going into tomorrow. I saw the picture of what the lanes wanted a little bit today, but I think we were just a little bit behind. Also, I made a couple of bad shots when I needed good ones, but that happens. Still, I feel pretty good about what’s to come the next couple of days.”
All competitors in both divisions have 12 games of qualifying remaining, six on Wednesday and the final block on Thursday.
Once those 18 games have been completed, each field will be cut to the top 16 players who will advance to round-robin match play, which will begin on Friday and wrap up Saturday morning.
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.
Junior Team USA bowlers Katelyn Abigania of San Diego and Connor Fleming of Fort Worth, Texas, pose for a picture on the lanes at Olympia Bowling in Helsingborg, Sweden, host of the 2025 IBF Youth World Cup. Abigania finished Tuesday's opening round of qualifying in 18th place while Fleming landed in 26th.
INFORMATION AND RESULTS
HELSINGBORG, Sweden – Junior Team USA bowlers Katelyn Abigania of San Diego and Connor Fleming of Fort Worth, Texas, arrived in Sweden on Saturday.
The duo spent its first three days on foreign soil enjoying ferry rides to Denmark, exploring the charming host city and putting in some light practice on the lanes.
Things got much more serious on Tuesday, however, when Abigania and Fleming completed their opening six-game qualifying blocks at the 2025 International Bowling Federation Youth World Cup, which is being held at Olympia Bowling in Helsingborg.
Both Americans authored steady opening-round performances with Abigania coming in with a six-game total of 1,095 to place 18th in the 31-player women’s field while Fleming shot 1,206 to finish 26th among 37 men’s competitors.
Abigania, an 18-year-old right-hander, got there by averaging 182.5 at Olympia Bowling on Tuesday thanks to scores of 168, 178, 177, 186, 207 and 179.
Fleming earned his position by recording games of 195, 183, 197, 185, 255 and 191 on the challenging 43-foot IBF Youth World Cup oil pattern. That gave the 21-year-old two-handed righty an average of 201 on the day.
The top three spots in the men’s field on Day 1 went to Denmark’s Nicolas Carter (1,462), Mathias Otting of Norway (1,375) and Slovakia’s Simon Hrusovsky (1,348).
Hrusovsky began Game 2 of men’s qualifying with 11 strikes in a row before leaving a 7-pin on his final ball to finish with 299, which was the highest game recorded on Tuesday.
Defending Youth World Cup women’s champion Elena Weinstok of Costa Rica didn’t flirt with perfection on opening day; nevertheless, her six-game mark of 1,291 was tops in the women’s field during Round 1. She was joined in Tuesday’s top three by 2024 United States Bowling Congress Intercollegiate Singles Championships women’s champion Sara Duque of Colombia (1,278), who bowls collegiately for Wichita State, and Norway’s Jenny Mathiesen (1,244).
But while the spotlight generally shines brightest on those at the top of the standings, 16th place is the spot garnering the most attention in both divisions thus far as that is the position all athletes need to be at or inside of in order to make the cut at the conclusion of 18 games of qualifying at this year’s IBF Youth World Cup.
Singapore’s Brian Ngoi found himself in 16th place after the first round of men’s qualifying thanks to a six-game score of 1,261 (a 210.2 average) while Ivanna Emire Villalobos Erosa of Mexico (1,112) finished Tuesday holding lucky No. 16 for the women.
Despite finding themselves on the outside looking in on Tuesday, both Americans are confident they can use what they learned during Round 1 to ensure their best bowling lies ahead during the final two qualifying blocks on Wednesday and Thursday.
“You always have to be confident. I was confident going into today, and that hasn’t changed,” Abigania said. “I just have to make better decisions faster and trust my process.
“They were different than yesterday during practice. We were expecting that, but it made things a little harder today. Hopefully, tomorrow we’ll be more prepared.”
Fleming also attributed some of Tuesday’s grind to challenging lane play, particularly during Game 1.
“I started on a tricky pair, and that caused me to play maybe a little bit too far left,” Fleming said. “I tried to go off that, but the rest of the lanes really didn’t play the same. All I can do is try to learn from it and try to find a comfort zone in the next rounds.”
Although he’ll continue searching for comfort, like Abigania, Fleming still has confidence.
“I feel good,” Fleming said. “Coach Kelly (Kulick) and I are going to talk, and I think we’ll have a pretty good game plan going into tomorrow. I saw the picture of what the lanes wanted a little bit today, but I think we were just a little bit behind. Also, I made a couple of bad shots when I needed good ones, but that happens. Still, I feel pretty good about what’s to come the next couple of days.”
All competitors in both divisions have 12 games of qualifying remaining, six on Wednesday and the final block on Thursday.
Once those 18 games have been completed, each field will be cut to the top 16 players who will advance to round-robin match play, which will begin on Friday and wrap up Saturday morning.
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.