WYC: Via, Hattori in sixth in doubles

The 2012 World Tenpin Bowling Association World Youth Championships continued Wednesday in Bangkok, Thailand, with three of the four squads in boys doubles taking the lanes.

Via Hattori 200Junior Team USA members Chris Via of Springfield, Ohio, and Zack Hattori of Las Vegas, were on the second squad and currently are in sixth place with a 2,504 pinfall total. Via had 1,290 (215 average) for the six games, while Hattori added 1,214.
 
Marshall Kent of Yakima, Wash., and Andrew Koff of Miami, the other doubles team for Junior Team USA, will bowl in the final squad on Thursday. The top four teams after the final squad will advance to the semifinals, also on Thursday. Sweden’s Kim Bolleby and Magnus Johnson Jr. lead the doubles competition at 2,551 followed by Kim Yeon-Sang and Hwang Dong-Jun of Korea at 2,532.

The girls doubles qualifying was held Tuesday and the two Junior Team USA teams performed well but did not reach the semifinals. Danielle McEwan of Stony Point, N.Y., and Amanda Greene of Romney, W.Va., were fifth, missing the finals cut by 52 pins, and Jessica Earnest of Vandalia, Ill. and  Kelsey Muther of Topeka, Kan., were seventh.

McEwan Greene WYC“For both of us in doubles, it didn’t turn out how we wanted and we’re extremely disappointed, ” McEwan said. “But looking at it overall, we have a really good chance as far as the team event goes since we both finished that high.”

In the girls doubles semifinals on Thursday, Malaysia’s Dayang Khairuniza and Jacqueline Sijore, who led qualifying with a 2,614 pinfall total, will face Kim Seon-Jeong and Hwang Yeon-Ju of Korea (2,497). The other semifinal will match Singapore’s New Hui Fen and Bernice Lim (2,514) against Japan’s Misaki Mukotani and Hiraku Takekawa (2,501).

The World Youth Championships runs through July 3, and four medal events remain – doubles, team, all-events and Masters match play.

For more information on the 2012 World Youth Championships, visit WorldYouth2012.com.