Team USA's Barnes, Clemmer win singles bronze at 2025 IBF World Championships
November 27, 2025
Team USA Bowlers Breanna Clemmer of Pikeville, Kentucky (left), and Ryan Barnes of Denton, Texas, pose with their singles bronze medals at the 2025 IBF World Championships at Top Bowl in Hong Kong on Thanksgiving Day.
FULL RESULTS
HONG KONG – On a day when many Americans are focused on getting a crispy, golden-brown skin on their Thanksgiving turkeys, five Team USA bowlers were in Hong Kong trying to cook up gold medals on the lanes.
When the final shots had been thrown on Thursday, none of the athletes in red, white and blue had found the right recipe to put any gold on their plates, but Ryan Barnes of Denton, Texas, and Breanna Clemmer of Pikeville, Kentucky, walked away with a good taste in their mouths as both earned bronze medals in singles at the 2025 International Bowling Federation World Championships, which is taking place at Top Bowl, Kai Tak Sports Park in Kowloon, Hong Kong, China.
Barnes, who earned his spot in the Round of 32 by finishing 21st in the 168-player Men’s Singles field during qualifying on Tuesday, was strong from start to finish on Thursday.
He began his day by winning five of seven round-robin matches to win Group D, breaking 215 six times (216, 256, 229, 238, 226, 267) and averaging 227.43 per game in the process.
That effort allowed Barnes to move on to the Men’s Singles semifinals and guarantee himself no worse than a bronze-medal finish; nevertheless, the talented American right-handed two-hander wanted a shot at gold.
In order to earn that opportunity, however, he would first have to get past Finland’s Luukas Väänänen, who qualified sixth after averaging nearly 238 on the 46-foot IBF World Championships oil pattern on Tuesday and was still going along at a clip of 233 per game when he posted a 6-1 record and won Group C on Thursday.
Still, Barnes was anything but intimidated, and it showed as he won the opening game of the best-of-three semifinal match by a score of 245-211.
Väänänen roared back during Game 2, however, topping Barnes 214-180 to set up a third and final game with a spot in the Men’s Singles gold-medal match on the line.
The deciding game was close throughout, but Väänänen converted a single-pin spare in the 10th frame to hold Barnes off and emerge with a 225-217 victory. That sent the Finnish bowler through to the gold-medal match while relegating Team USA’s Barnes to the third step on the Men’s Singles podium.
Väänänen would go on to win gold by defeating fellow Team Finland bowler Tomas Käyhkö 2-1 (227-247; 258-242; 246-236) in the finals.
Käyhkö, who secured his spot in the gold-medal match courtesy of a 2-0 (235-232; 231-228) semifinal sweep of Sweden’s Markus Jansson, walked away with the Men’s Singles silver medal while Jansson joined Barnes in earning bronze.
Even though Barnes would’ve liked to have landed two steps higher on the podium, he was proud of his Thanksgiving Day efforts at Top Bowl.
“Earning the bronze in singles means a lot to me because it reflects the work that I’ve put into my game,” Barnes said. “I’m proud of this performance, but more than anything, it fuels me for what’s ahead here in doubles, trios and the team event.”
Team USA’s Packy Hanrahan of Wichita, Kansas, had plenty to be proud of on Thursday as well as he averaged 248.14 and shot nothing lower than 224 (224, 279, 248, 280, 233, 235 and 238).
Unfortunately, he seemed to bring out the best in his opponents as well, and that caused the powerful lefty two-hander to finish with a 4-3 match-play record, which left him third in Group A and eliminated him from medal contention.
In Women’s Singles action, three Americans had their sights set on the podium as Bryanna Coté of Tucson, Arizona, and Shannon Pluhowsky of Dayton, Ohio, joined Clemmer in Thursday’s Round of 32.
However, since Clemmer and Pluhowsky were both in Group D, it meant that only one would advance.
Pluhowsky (209, 268, 226, 203, 213, 235, 210) out-averaged Clemmer (274, 187, 235, 215, 210, 208, 205) by more than four pins per game (223.43 to 219.14) on Thursday, but Clemmer posted a 6-1 match-play record while Pluhowsky finished at 5-2, which allowed Clemmer to win the group and punch her ticket to the semifinals.
Her opponent in the best-of-three bout was Essi Pakarinen of Finland, who joined Clemmer in the semis after winning Group B with a 5-2 record and an average of 219.86.
Pakarinen won the first game handily, topping Clemmer by a final score of 248-181.
The powerful Team USA right-hander evened the score shortly thereafter, however, besting the Finn 266-225 during Game 2.
Clemmer followed that effort up with a solid 222 in the deciding game, but it wasn’t enough as Pakarinen posted 254 to win the match 2-1 and earn a shot at Women’s Singles gold.
She would make the most of that opportunity, defeating Malaysia’s Adelia Nur Irwan Syazalee 2-0 (217-191; 214-169) in the finals to win the event.
Syazalee collected a silver medal while Singapore’s Shayna Ng, whom Syazalee defeated 2-1 (202-184; 160-164; 230-196) during the second Women’s Singles semifinal, stood alongside Clemmer with bronze.
For Clemmer, coming away with a medal was special not just because of the hardware she’ll be taking home but more so because of the confidence it will give her throughout the remainder of competition at the 2025 IBF World Championships.
“Starting off with bronze for Team USA is a huge boost for the upcoming events, and it feels great” Clemmer said. “Each moment today we were learning and working together as a team. I’m excited to see what lies ahead for the rest of the week.”
Coté clearly worked out how to post solid scores as she reached the 200 mark five times (225, 200, 200, 201, 222) over the course of seven games on Thursday; however, match wins were elusive, and that caused the right-hander from Arizona to end her day with a 3-4 record and sixth place in Group B.
Clemmer, Coté, and Pluhowsky will be joined by teammates Julia Bond of Lincoln, Nebraska; Jillian Martin of Stow, Ohio, and Lauren Russo of O’Fallon, Missouri, when Women’s Doubles qualifying takes place on Friday.
Team USA’s Andrew Anderson of Chesterfield Township, Michigan; A.J. Johnson of Kenosha, Wisconsin; Kristopher Prather of Romeoville, Illinois; Chris Via of Blacklick, Ohio; Barnes and Hanrahan will be off on Friday before getting back on the lanes for their own seven-game qualifying blocks in Men’s Doubles on Saturday.
Doubles competition will conclude on Sunday when the Round of 24, semifinals and finals are contested in each division.
The final two events of the 2025 IBF World Championships will be trios and team.
The first two rounds of Men’s Trios will occur on Monday with Women’s Trios following on Tuesday.
The focus will shift from three bowlers to five on Wednesday, which is when the first two rounds of Men’s Team and Women’s Team competition will occur.
The excitement is sure to reach a fever pitch during the last two days of competition when the action moves from Top Bowl to Queen Elizabeth Stadium in Wanchai.
The trios semifinals and finals in both divisions will take place at Queen Elizabeth Stadium on Dec. 4 with the Men’s Team and Women’s Team semis and finals following on Dec. 5, which will be the last day of competition at this year’s tournament.
After the last balls have been rolled and the final medals have been awarded, the Victory Banquet will officially bring the 2025 IBF World Championships to a close on the evening of Dec. 5.
CLICK HERE for more information on Team USA.
FULL RESULTS
HONG KONG – On a day when many Americans are focused on getting a crispy, golden-brown skin on their Thanksgiving turkeys, five Team USA bowlers were in Hong Kong trying to cook up gold medals on the lanes.
When the final shots had been thrown on Thursday, none of the athletes in red, white and blue had found the right recipe to put any gold on their plates, but Ryan Barnes of Denton, Texas, and Breanna Clemmer of Pikeville, Kentucky, walked away with a good taste in their mouths as both earned bronze medals in singles at the 2025 International Bowling Federation World Championships, which is taking place at Top Bowl, Kai Tak Sports Park in Kowloon, Hong Kong, China.
Barnes, who earned his spot in the Round of 32 by finishing 21st in the 168-player Men’s Singles field during qualifying on Tuesday, was strong from start to finish on Thursday.
He began his day by winning five of seven round-robin matches to win Group D, breaking 215 six times (216, 256, 229, 238, 226, 267) and averaging 227.43 per game in the process.
That effort allowed Barnes to move on to the Men’s Singles semifinals and guarantee himself no worse than a bronze-medal finish; nevertheless, the talented American right-handed two-hander wanted a shot at gold.
In order to earn that opportunity, however, he would first have to get past Finland’s Luukas Väänänen, who qualified sixth after averaging nearly 238 on the 46-foot IBF World Championships oil pattern on Tuesday and was still going along at a clip of 233 per game when he posted a 6-1 record and won Group C on Thursday.
Still, Barnes was anything but intimidated, and it showed as he won the opening game of the best-of-three semifinal match by a score of 245-211.
Väänänen roared back during Game 2, however, topping Barnes 214-180 to set up a third and final game with a spot in the Men’s Singles gold-medal match on the line.
The deciding game was close throughout, but Väänänen converted a single-pin spare in the 10th frame to hold Barnes off and emerge with a 225-217 victory. That sent the Finnish bowler through to the gold-medal match while relegating Team USA’s Barnes to the third step on the Men’s Singles podium.
Väänänen would go on to win gold by defeating fellow Team Finland bowler Tomas Käyhkö 2-1 (227-247; 258-242; 246-236) in the finals.
Käyhkö, who secured his spot in the gold-medal match courtesy of a 2-0 (235-232; 231-228) semifinal sweep of Sweden’s Markus Jansson, walked away with the Men’s Singles silver medal while Jansson joined Barnes in earning bronze.
Even though Barnes would’ve liked to have landed two steps higher on the podium, he was proud of his Thanksgiving Day efforts at Top Bowl.
“Earning the bronze in singles means a lot to me because it reflects the work that I’ve put into my game,” Barnes said. “I’m proud of this performance, but more than anything, it fuels me for what’s ahead here in doubles, trios and the team event.”
Team USA’s Packy Hanrahan of Wichita, Kansas, had plenty to be proud of on Thursday as well as he averaged 248.14 and shot nothing lower than 224 (224, 279, 248, 280, 233, 235 and 238).
Unfortunately, he seemed to bring out the best in his opponents as well, and that caused the powerful lefty two-hander to finish with a 4-3 match-play record, which left him third in Group A and eliminated him from medal contention.
In Women’s Singles action, three Americans had their sights set on the podium as Bryanna Coté of Tucson, Arizona, and Shannon Pluhowsky of Dayton, Ohio, joined Clemmer in Thursday’s Round of 32.
However, since Clemmer and Pluhowsky were both in Group D, it meant that only one would advance.
Pluhowsky (209, 268, 226, 203, 213, 235, 210) out-averaged Clemmer (274, 187, 235, 215, 210, 208, 205) by more than four pins per game (223.43 to 219.14) on Thursday, but Clemmer posted a 6-1 match-play record while Pluhowsky finished at 5-2, which allowed Clemmer to win the group and punch her ticket to the semifinals.
Her opponent in the best-of-three bout was Essi Pakarinen of Finland, who joined Clemmer in the semis after winning Group B with a 5-2 record and an average of 219.86.
Pakarinen won the first game handily, topping Clemmer by a final score of 248-181.
The powerful Team USA right-hander evened the score shortly thereafter, however, besting the Finn 266-225 during Game 2.
Clemmer followed that effort up with a solid 222 in the deciding game, but it wasn’t enough as Pakarinen posted 254 to win the match 2-1 and earn a shot at Women’s Singles gold.
She would make the most of that opportunity, defeating Malaysia’s Adelia Nur Irwan Syazalee 2-0 (217-191; 214-169) in the finals to win the event.
Syazalee collected a silver medal while Singapore’s Shayna Ng, whom Syazalee defeated 2-1 (202-184; 160-164; 230-196) during the second Women’s Singles semifinal, stood alongside Clemmer with bronze.
For Clemmer, coming away with a medal was special not just because of the hardware she’ll be taking home but more so because of the confidence it will give her throughout the remainder of competition at the 2025 IBF World Championships.
“Starting off with bronze for Team USA is a huge boost for the upcoming events, and it feels great” Clemmer said. “Each moment today we were learning and working together as a team. I’m excited to see what lies ahead for the rest of the week.”
Coté clearly worked out how to post solid scores as she reached the 200 mark five times (225, 200, 200, 201, 222) over the course of seven games on Thursday; however, match wins were elusive, and that caused the right-hander from Arizona to end her day with a 3-4 record and sixth place in Group B.
Clemmer, Coté, and Pluhowsky will be joined by teammates Julia Bond of Lincoln, Nebraska; Jillian Martin of Stow, Ohio, and Lauren Russo of O’Fallon, Missouri, when Women’s Doubles qualifying takes place on Friday.
Team USA’s Andrew Anderson of Chesterfield Township, Michigan; A.J. Johnson of Kenosha, Wisconsin; Kristopher Prather of Romeoville, Illinois; Chris Via of Blacklick, Ohio; Barnes and Hanrahan will be off on Friday before getting back on the lanes for their own seven-game qualifying blocks in Men’s Doubles on Saturday.
Doubles competition will conclude on Sunday when the Round of 24, semifinals and finals are contested in each division.
The final two events of the 2025 IBF World Championships will be trios and team.
The first two rounds of Men’s Trios will occur on Monday with Women’s Trios following on Tuesday.
The focus will shift from three bowlers to five on Wednesday, which is when the first two rounds of Men’s Team and Women’s Team competition will occur.
The excitement is sure to reach a fever pitch during the last two days of competition when the action moves from Top Bowl to Queen Elizabeth Stadium in Wanchai.
The trios semifinals and finals in both divisions will take place at Queen Elizabeth Stadium on Dec. 4 with the Men’s Team and Women’s Team semis and finals following on Dec. 5, which will be the last day of competition at this year’s tournament.
After the last balls have been rolled and the final medals have been awarded, the Victory Banquet will officially bring the 2025 IBF World Championships to a close on the evening of Dec. 5.
CLICK HERE for more information on Team USA.