On Friday, at the Plus Bowling Center in the Austrian capital Vienna, 95 European youth bowlers stood in a fight for European Youth Championships medals at the Boys Singles event.
Only four players advanced to the semi-finals after six qualification games.
Max Lorenz of Germany set the new three-game record at the Boys Singles event, scoring 804, and it was a perfect way to sit atop Boys Singles qualification with 1473 total pinfall.
Home nation Austria was cheering as Fabian Gross came second (1462), almost hitting a perfect game with 299 in the fifth qualification game. Norway's Mathias Danielsen Otting finished third with 1445, and Denmark's Nicolas Carter took the remaining spot in the semi-finals with 1423.
Although Max Lorenz performed well at the qualification, bronze medalist at the Boys Team event Nicolas Carter had no thoughts about stepping back. Dane took his ticket to the finals with a 217-190 victory.
An actual strike feast happened in another semi-final, where the crowd's favorite Fabian Gross stood in a bowling duel against Norway's Mathias Danielsen Otting. Ice-cold Norwegian proclaimed his dominance with a 268-235 victory, even though the crowd noise was not in his favor.
In the final game, Denmark's Nicolas Carter was close to perfection missing only once, and it was more than enough to claim gold against Mathias Danielsen Otting with a final result of 279-224.
Gold medal - Nicolas Carter (Denmark)
Silver medal - Mathias Danielsen Otting (Norway)
Bronze medals - Max Lorenz (Germany) | Mathias Danielsen Otting (Norway)
The ending of the Singles qualification also meant the conclusion of the Boys All-Event qualification. Sweden's Kevin Melin won gold, his compatriot Carl Eklund was awarded with silver medal, and Singles gold medalist Nicolas Carter won bronze after his remarkable performance in Singles qualification.
Twenty-four best performers after eighteen qualification games advanced to the Masters category. Here are the top 8 performers after the qualification in the Boys All-Event. These eight players will skip the first step of the Masters event.
Full standings can be found here.
All championship activities will be held from the 2nd of April to the 9th of April 2023. A total of 30 European bowling federations and 168 youth athletes participate in the event.
