MUNICH, Germany (March 18, 2018) – Thanks to the assistance of eight handicap pins awarded to all women bowlers in the tournament, Sweden’s Jenny Wegner won the PBA International-World Bowling Tour Brunswick Euro Challenge Sunday at Dream-Bowl Palace, thwarting a 10th frame comeback bid by tournament leader Anthony Simonsen.

Simonsen, the top qualifier, quickly fell behind when Wegner, the 2016 Qubica AMF World Cup women’s champion, started the title match with five strikes. But the contest changed direction when the 23-year-old Swedish kindergarten teacher failed to convert the 1-2-4-10 washout in the seven frame. She still had the match under control until she left the 2-8 in both the ninth and 10th frames. Despite failing to convert the 1-8 spare in her final frame, the eight handicap pins-per-game awarded to all women in the tournament allowed Wegner hold off Simonsen for the title.

Simonsen, who had thrown only one strike on the right lane previously in the match, threw two strikes before leaving the 10 pin on his final shot for an actual 213-211 margin, but with her handicap pins, Wegner won by a 219-213 margin.

Simonsen, a 21-year-old two-handed player from Austin, Texas, started the seven-game Step Three match play round with games of 300, 287 and 278 – an 865 series – to expand his lead and he comfortably maintained his position all the way to the championship match.

In the first match of the three-player stepladder finals, Thailand’s Yannaphon Larpapharat dug himself into a 21-pin hole after failing to convert a pair of splits, and Wegner had a double and a turkey in a clean game for a 233-214 win to advance to the title match.

Next on the Go Bowling! PBA Tour’s 2018 schedule will be the United States Bowling Congress Masters April 8-15 at the Oncenter Convention Center in Syracuse, N.Y., where defending champion Jason Belmonte of Australia will try for an unprecedented fifth Masters title, which also would result in a PBA record-tying 10th major championship.

PBA’s Xtra Frame online bowling channel will live stream all qualifying and three-game double-elimination match play rounds of the Masters before the finals air live on ESPN on April 15 at 1 p.m. EDT. For Xtra Frame subscription information, visit xtraframe.tv.

BRUNSWICK EURO CHALLENGE

Dream-Bowl Palace, Munich, Germany, Sunday

Final Standings:

1, w-Jenny Wegner, Sweden, $14,150.

2, Anthony Simonsen, Austin, Texas, $10,460.

3, Yannaphon Larpapharat, Thailand, $6,700.

Stepladder Results:

Match One – Wegner def. Larpapharat, 233-214. Championship – Wegner def. Simonsen, 219-213.

Final Step 3 Standings (after 13 games, including 30 match play bonus pins for each match win; prize money is converted from Euros to U.S. dollars):

1, Simonsen, 5-2, 3,408.

2, w-Wegner, 6-1, 3,281.

3, Larpapharat, 5-2, 3,271.

4, Stuart Williams, England, 2-5, 3,217, $4,180.

5, w-Siti Safiyah Amirah, Malaysia, 2-5, 3,210, $3,690.

6, w-Cherie Tan, Singapore, 3-4, 3,150, $3,440.

7, David Simard, Canada, 3-4, 3,119, $3,080.

8, w-Mai Ginge Jensen, Denmark, 2-5, 3,107, $2,710.

Step 2 Cashers (after six games):

9, w-Daphne Tan, Singapore, 1,420, $2,340.

10, Kyle Troup, Taylorsville, N.C., 1,410, $2,340.

11, w-Shayna Ng, Singapore, 1,409, $2,340.

12, w-Ghislaine Stigter-Van Der Tol, Netherlands, 1,408, $2,340.

13, Jesper Svensson, Sweden, 1,395, $1,970.

14, w-Bernice Lim, Singapore, 1,393, $1,970.

15, w-Danielle McEwan, Stony Point, N.Y., 1,390, $1,970.

16, Adrian Ang, Malaysia, 1,385, $1,970.

17, Rafiq Ismail, Malaysia, 1,380, $1,720.

18, Andrew Anderson, Holly, Mich., 1,372, $1,720.

19, Kim Bolleby, Thailand, 1,371, $1,720.

20, w-Anggie Ramirez Perea, 1,358, $1,720.

21, w-Esther Cheah, Malaysia, 1,351, $1,600.

22, Annop Arromsaranon, Thailand, 1,345, $1,600.

23, Jaroslav Lorenc, Czechoslovakia, 1,343, $1,600.

24, Emil Ågren, Sweden, $1,600.

25, Shawn Maldonado, Houston, Texas, 1,289, $1,480.

26, Syafiq Ridhwan, Malaysia, 1,286, $1,480.

27, Timmy Tan, Malaysia, 1,270, $1,480.

28, w-Cajsa Wegner, Sweden, 1,243, $1,480.

Step 1 Cashers (after six games):

29 (tie), Darren Tang, San Francisco, and Wicky Yeung, Hong Kong, 1,405, $1,350.

31 (tie), w-Tannya Roumimper, Indonesia, and Hassan Alshaikh, Saudi Arabia, 1,401, $1,350.

33, Jimmy Mortensen, Denmark, 1,400, $1,350.

34, Patrick Weichert, Germany, 1,397, $1,350.

35, Sean Rash, Montgomery, Ill., 1,387, $1,230.

36, Francois Louw, South Africa, 1,370, $1,230.

37, Jason Sterner, Rockledge, Fla., 1,367, $1,230.

38 (tie), John Wells, England, and Niko Oksanen, Finland, 1,361, $1,230.

40, Dom Barrett, England, 1,360, $1,230.

41, Oliver Morig, Germany, 1,351, $1,230.

42, Jamie McDermott, Jamie, Germany, 1,350, $1,230.

43, w-Jazreel Tan, Singapore, 1,349, $1,230.

44, Richie Teece, England, 1,347, $1,230.

45, w-Sin Li Jane, Malaysia, 1,340, $1,107.

45, Manuel Otalora, Colombia, 1,338, $1,107.

46, Kimmo Lehtonen, Finland, 1,337, $1,107.

48, w-Hui Fen New, Singapore, 1,336, $1,107.

49, Raymond Teece, England, 1,335, $1,107.

50, Nathan Ruest-Lajoie, Canada, 1,332, $1,107.

51, Karl Wahlgren, Sweden, 1,316, $1,107.

52, Markus Jansson, Sweden, 1,300, $1,107.

53, Thomas Larsen, Denmark, 1,299, $1,107.

54, Tobia Börding, Germany, 1,296, $1,107.

55, w-Shalin Zulkifli, Malaysia, 1,284, $984.

56, Rasmus Edvall, Sweden, 1,270, $984.

57, Kwun Ho Lau, Hong Kong, 1,240, $984.

58, Christoph Schurian, Germany, 1,231, $984.

59, Christopher Sloan, Ireland, 1,228, $984.

60, Timo Schroeder, Germany, 1,223, $984.

61, Andres Juliusson, Israel, 1,221, $984.

62, w-Birgit Pöppler, Germany, 1,216, $984.

63, Surasak Manuwong, Thailand, 1,211, $984.

64, Moued Saad Alqahtani, Saudi Arabia, 1,121, $984.