Saturday, Dec 07, 2013
Abu Dhabi: Top seed Thomas Larsen of Denmark had to beat challenger Mika Koivuniemi of Finland twice in the Abu Dhabi World Bowling Tour finals to win his first World Tour title on Friday.
Both Larsen and Koivuniemi started off well, exchanging strikes, and were locked at the halfway mark in the first game of the title match. But it was the Finn who struck out to take the first game 280-239.
In the deciding game, the Dane made no mistake when he rolled three consecutive strikes from frame two, forcing Koivuniemi into an error with a split in the third frame. Larsen struck thrice again as Koivuniemi struggled to repeat the form he displayed in the first game, eventually going down to Larsen, 204-247.
“After I had qualified well, I was slightly confident that I’ll do well in the finals,” said the 23-year-old Larsen from Assens. “Mika has been bowling well too and I knew it was not going to be an easy match. I did well too in the first game, but Mika had better carry. In the second match, he made a few bad shots and that gave me the chance to win if I can focus on my game.”
Koivuniemi had earlier ended Hong Kong’s Wu Siu Hong’s fine run with a 258-165 victory in the fourth match to face the top seed. Wu edged third seed, Dominic Barrett of England, 248-235 in the third match.
Larsen picked up Dh110,000 for the win while Koivuniemi settled for Dh70,000. Wu went home with Dh40,000 and Barrett, Palermaa and Planefors earned Dh20,000, Dh15,000 and Dh12,000 respectively.
The next 2014 PBA World Bowling Tour moves on to its second stop in Doha with the 13th Qatar Bowling Open and then the third stop in Riyadh with the 7th Kingdom of Saudi Open the following week.
The World Tenpin Bowling Association, which is made up of more than 100 bowling federations, governs the sport throughout the world. For more information on WTBA and the World Bowling Tour, visit www.worldtenpinbowling.com.
Staff Report
Gulf News 2013. All rights reserved.
