In the Men's championship match, Canada emerged victorious over South Korea, while the South Korean women displayed their skills by narrowly defeating their arch-rivals from Malaysia in the Team event at the 2023 IBF World Bowling Championships.
After a highly competitive initial stage consisting of Rounds 1 and 2, only the top four men's and women's teams progressed to the semifinals.
In the men's semifinals, Team Canada secured their place in the final with a close 2-1 victory over China (173-225, 226-207, 236-225) in the first semi-final match. Meanwhile, South Korea eliminated Lithuania with a 2-0 victory (246-211, 235-211) in the other semi-final, setting up a showdown with Canada in the finals.
Canada narrowly defeated South Korea in the first game of the best-of-three final, with a score of 224-221. However, they were pushed to a deciding match after losing 207-235 in the second game. The final match remained closely contested until the fourth frame when Canada gained a slight advantage with consecutive strikes in the fourth and fifth frames.
Team Gold medal - Canada
Team Silver medal - South Korea
Team Bronze medals - China & Lithuania
In the women's semifinals, South Korea convincingly defeated the fourth-seeded China 2-0 (195-185, 199-193) in the initial semi-final match, securing their spot in the final. At the same time, Malaysia overcame the third-seeded Singapore 2-1 (187-248, 255-182, 219-191) to earn their place in the championship match.
In the finals, South Korea claimed victory in the first game with a score of 211-177, but Malaysia fought back strongly by winning the second game with a score of 207-169, forcing a decisive match. Malaysia showed exceptional performance with consecutive doubles in the third and fourth frames, as well as another double in the eighth and ninth frames. They only needed a clean finish to win, but they were unlucky to encounter a split in their final frame. South Korea seized the opportunity and rolled three consecutive strikes from the ninth frame to narrowly defeat Malaysia 214-203, securing the gold medal.
Team Gold medal - South Korea
Team Silver medal - Malaysia
Team Bronze medals - China & Singapore
Austyn Ducharme of Canada, a member of the gold-winning team, also earned the Men's All Event gold medal. Kim Dong Hyeon of South Korea claimed the silver medal, and Darren Ong of Singapore took home the bronze medal.
South Korea also emerged as the federation Women and Men champions.
In the city of Kuwait, a total of 138 men and 72 women representing twenty-three countries have come together for the 2023 IBF World Bowling Championships.
This year, the World Championships have been opened to all IBF Member Federations for participation. This decision was made in response to the lack of attendance from qualified countries, as many top-tier member federations decided to opt-out, citing issues with the International Bowling Federation (IBF).
