1st August, Helsinki: Korea swept the Masters titles of the World Youth Championsip 2010 as Kim Yeon-Ju made a great comeback to win the Girl's title while Kim Ju-Young defeated team-mate Shin Seung-Hyeon to claim the Boy's crown.

Singles gold medalist, Kim Yeon-Ju made a great comeback after going down 0-2 after she lost to Laura Fonnegra, 186-222 and 182-256 in the first two matches in the Girl's finals. The Korean took the next three matches, 234-206, 216-200 and 268-246 to win her second individual gold medal and the title.

Yeon-Ju was earlier stretched to five matches to beat Netherland's Carmen Haandrikman, 3-2 in the second semi-finals to move closer to the title while Fonnegra was also stretched to the fifth and deciding match when the Colombian beat top seed, Kim Moon-Jeong, 3-2 in the first semi.

The victory gave the Korean girls their fourth gold medal. Yeon-Ju picked up the Singles gold on the opening day, won the team gold and Moon-Jeong the All Events yesterday.

The Koreans also took two out of the four semi-finals spots from yesterday's quarter-finals. Moon-Jeong eliminated the sole American, Jennifer Boisselle, 3-1 and Yeon-Ju beat Mexico's Gabriela Hernandez, 3-2.

Korea's boys also picked up their second gold medal after Kim Ju-Young defeated Shin Seung-Hyeon, 3-1 in the all-Korean finals. Ju-Young lost the first match, 211-244 but won the next three matches, 194-187, 247-221 and 246-215 to take the Boy's title.

Ju-Young edged second-seed, Park Jong-Woo, 3-2 in the first all-Korean semi-finals while Seung-Hyeon was stretched to the fifth match by Daniels Vezls of Latvia to win 3-2 and advance to the finals.

The Koreans dominated this year's championship by emerging as overall champion with a medal haul of 6-2-5. USA finished second with 2 gold and 3 silver medals. England and Colombia were the other two countries to have won a gold medal each.

The Korean girls, who topped the girl's medal tally, won four out of the five gold medals with Colombia picking up the Doubles gold. The boys won two gold, 2 silver and 3 bronze medals to top the boy's medal tally as well.

Photos by Ari Komulainen, Finnish Bowling Federation and courtesy of USBC.

31st July, Helsinki: Korea underlined their dominance to celebrate a Team double by winning the Boy's and Girl's Team gold medals of the World Youth Championship 2010 at Tali Bowl on Saturday.

All Events gold medalist and top seed, Kim Moon-Jeong of Korea eliminated the sole American, Jennifer Boisselle 3-1 in the best-of-5 quarter-finals encounter to book her place in the semi-finals.

Despite losing the first match, 224-242 the Korean took the next three matches, 176-141, 234-225 and 243-192 to knockout Boisselle. Moon-Jeong also knocked out another American and 16th seed, Christine Bator, 3-2 in the Round 1 finals.

The second Korean to join her team-mate and advance into the semi-final was Singles gold medalist and seventh seed, Kim Yeon-Ju. Yeon-Ju had to go to the fifth match after leveling 2-2.

The Korean lost the first two matches, 186-207 and 194-219 but bounched back with 238-227 and 224-189 victories in the third and fourth match to force the decider in which the Korean cruised to a comfortable 242-154 win over Mexico's Gabriela Hernandez.

Yeon-Ju had earlier took out team-mate, Shin Bo-Hyun 3-2 in Round 1 finals before her victory over the Mexican in the quarter-finals. Yeon-Ju will meet Dutch, Carmen Haandrikman in the semi while Moon-Jeong will meet Colombia's Laura Fonnegra in the other semi.

Meanwhile, Korean coaches could not have asked for a better performance when all their three boys took three out of the four semi-final spots. Kim Ju-Young defeated the last American and top seed, Andrew Koff, 3-2 in the quarter-finals.

Second seed, Park Jong Woo cruised to the semi after a 3-0 routing over Netherland's Phil Hulst, 235-168, 226-205 and 198-191. Jong-Woo also easily defeated another Dutch, Dwayne Van Zandwijk, 3-0 in Round 1.

The third Korean, Shin Seung-Hyeon took four matches to end Finland's hope of a medal after he eliminated Samu Valaranta, 3-1 in the quarter-finals to join his team-mates in the semi-finals.

Latvia's two-handed lefty, Daniels Vezls took the last semi-final spot after he beat Estonia's Kurt Truus, 3-1 in the last quarter-finals match. Vezls will face off with eighth seed, Shin Seung-Hyeon while the two Koreans, Jong-Woo and Ju-Young square off in the other semi.

The Masters semi-finals and finals will be streamed LIVE at http://bambuser.com/channel/WYC2010, courtesy of Finish Bowling Federation in co-operation with USBC on Sunday, August 1.

Photos by Ari Komulainen, Finnish Bowling Federation..

31st July, Helsinki: Korea underlined their dominance to celebrate a Team double by winning the Boy's and Girl's Team gold medals of the World Youth Championship 2010 at Tali Bowl on Saturday.

The Korean boys finally nailed the gold medal in the team event after failing to progress in the Singles and Doubles semi-finals. Seeded second, Hong Hae-Sol, Kim Ju-Young, Shin Seung-Hyeon and Park Jong-Woo advanced to the finals defeating Australia, 812-755 in the second semi.

Fourth-seed, Jake Peters, Devin Bidwell, Craig Hanson and Andrew Koff trashed top seed, Estonia, 942-786 to give USA their third finals and meeting the Koreans again.

But the mighty Koreans ended USA's winning streak by beating them, 892-860 to win their first gold medal. Hong shot 235, Kim 237, Shin 199 and Park 211 while Peters downed 222, Bidwell 211, Hanson 226 and Koff 201.

Park was eliminated by USA in the Singles semi-finals to settle for the bronze and Kim and Shin were also defeated by USA in the Doubles semi-finals so the victory over the Americans was finally realized.

Meanwhile, top seed Kim Yeon-Ju, Shin Bo-Hyun, Baek Seung-Ja and Kim Moon-Jeong gave Korea their third gold medal of the championship after defeating Singapore, 839-785 in the Girl's Team finals.

The champion outclassed England's Sara Overall, Rachel Cox, Danielle Hopcroft and Hayley White, 860-756 in the first semi-finals while Singapore's Daphne Tan, New Hui Fen, Shayna Ng and Jazreel Tan beat Malaysia, 860-769 in the other semi.

Siti Safiyah Amirah, Fatin Syazliana, Jacqueline J. Sijore and Sin Li Jane shared Malaysia's second bronze medal with England.

Korea leads the Medal tally with 4 gold, 1 silver and 3 bronze medals ahead of USA with 2 gold and 3 silver medals. England (Boy's Singles) and Colombia (Girl's Doubles) were the other two countries to win a gold medal each.

Competition will shift to the Masters Round 1 elimination stage amongst the top 16 boys and top 16 girls finalsts from the All Events standings later today. The semi-finals and finals will continue on Sunday, August 1.

Photos by Ari Komulainen, Finnish Bowling Federation..

30th July, Helsinki: Estonia's Vallo Lees, Kristjan Leisner, Ulari Lees and Kert Truus upstaged the favorites Korea and USA to advance into the World Youth Championship 2010 Team semi-finals as top seed.

Estonia, who finished third in the first block, posted 859 in their opening game of the second block to move up to second behind USA's Jake Peters, Devin Bidwell, Carig Hanson and Andrew Koff.

Despite shooting a lowly 769 in the second game, USA hung on to the lead with a surprise Macau moving up to second with Estonia slipping down to third after managing only 807. A scintillating 900 allowed to end the block in the lead with a team total of 5008.

USA settled for second with 4932, 76 pins adrift Estonia while Macau took third spot with 4932 and a chance to make the semi-finals.

Korea's Hong Hae-Sol, Kim Ju-Young, Shin Seung-Hyeon and Park Jong-Woo, who led Squad 1 in the first block, held their lead ending the block with 4962 but failed to topple Estonia. Australia finished fourth overall with 4952 to snatch the last semi-final spot in fourth.

Meanwhile, in the earlier Girl's Team second block, Korea's Kim Yeon-Ju, Shin Bo-Hyun, Baek Seung-Ja and Kim Moon-Jeong posted 869, 825 and 882 in their second block to advance into the semi-finals as top seed with 5024.

Singapore's Daphne Tan, New Hui Fen, Shayna Ng and Jazreel Tan held on to second with 4971 ahead of their neighbours and overnight leader, Malaysia, who ended a weaker second block to take third spot with 4844.

England snatch the fourth spot with 4774, just four pins ahead of the unlucky Latvia in fifth. USA, who was third in the first block, fizzled off in the long oil condition to end block in seventh behind the Dutch in sixth.

Kim Moon-Jeong picked up Korea's second gold after topping the All Events standings with 3922. England's Hayley White and Diana Zavjalova of Latvia won the silver and bronze medals with 3905 and 3899.

Andrew Koff won the Boy's All Events gold medal with 4036 to deny the Koreans a double. Park Jong-Woo settled for the silver with 3994 while Samu Valaranta gave host Finland their first medal by winning the bronze with 3965.

The Girl's and Boy's Team semi-finals and finals will be held on Saturday, July 31 followed by the Masters Round 1 elimination Finals for the top 16 girls and top 16 boys from the All Events standings. The semi-finals and finals of the Masters event will be contest on Sunday, August 1 for the final two gold medals.

Photos courtesy of USBC.

29th July, Helsinki: Team USA put in a great performance in the second squad to grab the lead in the World Youth Championship 2010 from Squad 1 leader, Korea with a 57 pins margin after the first block.

The Doubles gold and silver medalists proved to be the team to beat as Jake Peters, Devin Bidwell, Graig Hanson and Andrew Koff got off to a cracking start with an opening game of 886.

Host, Finland thrilled the local crowd with a superb 880 to take up second behind the Americans with Singapore and Estonia sharing third spot with 826.

The American quartet continued the second game with another superb 862 to build up a 52 pins margin over Singapore while France's Alexandre Lepolard, Pierre Montagne, Ermi Lenzi and Damien Sallas moved up to third.

Despite posting 782 in their final game, USA ended the first block with 2530 to take over the lead from Squad 1 leader, Korea. France finished second with 2473 with Singapore slipping down to third.

Korea's Hong Hae-Sol, Kim Ju-Young, Shin Seung-Hyeon and Park Jong-Woo settled for second with 2517 while France finished third with 2473. Australia, who finished second to the Koreans in the first squad, took fourth with 2471.

Singles bronze medalist, Park Jong-Woo took over the lead in the All Events with 3360 followed by USA's Andrew Koff in second with 3343, 17 pins adrift. Overnight leader, Mats Maggi slipped down to third with 3332.

Photos courtesy of USBC.

29th July, Helsinki: After firing blanks in the past two events at the World Youth Championship 2010, Malaysian girls finally turned up during the Team of Four to lead the field after the first block on Thursday.

England got the Team of Four underway with a superb 842 opening game to lead Singapore by 4 pins and USA a further one pin away in third. Kristie Petravich, Jennifer Boiselle, Brittni Hamilton and Christine Bator of USA shot a strong 867 to take over the running after the second game.

Australia's 827 and 855 moved them up to second ahead of Singapore's Daphne Tan, New Hui Fen, Shayna Ng and Jazreel Tan slipping to third with 810 as England dropped down to fourth after managing only 786 and Malaysia in fifth.

The Americans struggled in their final game as Siti Safiyah, Fatin Syazliana, Jacqueline J. Sijore and Sin Li Jane posted a sizzling final game of 861 to haul themselves into pole position with 2468.

The Malaysians, who had been disappointing in their first two events, will look forward to another good secnd block to advance into the knockout stage and perhaps win a medal. Singapore did well with another consistent game to finish second, just 3 pins adrift on 2465.

USA slipped down to third with 2460, a further 5 pins away. The favorites, Korea took fourth spot with 2448, another 12 pins further followed by the Netherlands in a distant fifth on 2388.

Kim Moon-Jeong of Korea took over the lead in the All Events standings after 15 games with 3292 as Diana Zavjalova of Latvia slipped to second with 3274. England's Hayley White finished third with 3235.

Photos courtesy of USBC.

28th July, Helsinki: Junior Team USA dominated the Boy's Doubles finals of the World Youth Championship 2010 by earning the gold and silver medals at Tali Bowl on Wednesday with Korea and Malaysia sharing for the bronze.

Graig Hanson and Andrew Koff narrowly edged team-mates, Devin Bidwell and Jake Peters, 428-426 in the all-American finals to win their first gold medal. The champion shrugged off a weak start to finished strongly to take the title.

Hanson shot 227 and Koff had 201 while Bidwell downed 222 and Peters fired 204. USA also became the first country in the history of the championship to win both the gold and silver medals at the same championship.

"It was really relaxing and we were just having fun out there doing our best," said Koff. "We got both medals, that's what were here for."

In the finals, Bidwell and Peters looked like the champions after building up a 50 pins lead at the halfway mark but Hanson finished with six consecutive strikes and then Koff doubled in the tenth frame to win by 2 pins.

"We never let ourselves get out of it mentally," said Hanson. "We talked to each other and said that we needed to have a strong second half, made a good shots and hopefully that would get us the gold."

In the semi-finals, fourth-seed Hanson and Koff beat top seed, Kim Ju-Young and Shin Seung-Hyeon of Korea, 380-363 to advance. The other semi-finals saw Bidwell and Peters beating Aris Ardilla and Syimir Abdul Razak of Malaysia, 386-343.

The Koreans had qualified first with 2705 in the opening squad with Bidwell and Peters taking the third and final squad with 2678. The Malaysians, who topped the second squad with 2638 finished third while Hanson and Koff made the semi-finals in fourth with 2632.

Mats Maggie of Belgium shot the highest 6-game series thus far with 1479 to take over the All Events with 2748. Singles bronze medalist, Park Jong-Woo slipped down to second with 2703 while Koff is well placed in third with 2701.

Action shifts to the girls and boys team qualifying on Thursday, July 29 and Friday, July 30. The top four teams will again advance into the elimination rounds. The top 16 girls and top 16 boys in the All Events will qualify for the Masters knockout stage.

Photos courtesy of USBC.

27th July, Helsinki: Laura Fonnegra and Maria Jose Rodriguez of Colombia won the Girl's Doubles gold medal of the World Youth Championship 2010 in a high scoring and narrow victory over Singapore in the finals at Tali Bowl on Tuesday.

Laura Fonnegra and Maria Jose Rodriguez narrowly edged Singapore's first pair of Daphne Tan and New Hui Fen, 481-473 in a thrilling finale to win Colombia's first gold medal. Fonnegra, who bowls for Linderwood in the collegiate league in the US, shot 259 and Rodriguez, who compete for Maryland Eastern Shore, shot 222.

"This means a lot, like a dream come true, seriously," said Rodriguez. "When you come to the World Championship, you want to win and making it real is unbelievable. I can't explain it."

Singapore's second pair of Shayna Ng and Wichita State bowler, Jazreel Tan, who topped the second squad in pole with 2575, lost to the Colombian pair, 392-412 in the first semi-finals to settle for the bronze medal.

Daphne and Hui Fen, who avoided their team-mates in the knockout stage after finishing fourth in the qualification round because of a lower final game of 439 when they tied with Fonnegra and Rodriguez on 2535, beat top seed Kim Yeon-Ju and Kim Moon-Jeong of Korea, 456-414 in the other semi.

Heyley White and Dannelle Hopcroft of England missed the cut by 29 pins to finish fifth with 2506 while Filipinas Krizziah Lyn Tabora and Marian Lara Posadas, who was second to Shayna and Jazreel before the final game, slipped down to sixth.

Singles bronze medalist, Diana Zavjalova of Latvia took over the lead in the All Events standings with 2656 ahead of Kim Moon-Jeong of Korea in second and Hayley White third with 2651 and 2619 respectively.

The Boy's Doubles will be contested tomorrow divided into three squads. The top four from the combined squads will advance to the elimination rounds.

Photos courtsey of USBC.

26th July, Helsinki: Fourth-seed, Adam Cairns of England turned in a superb performance to take the Boy's Singles gold medal of the World Youth Championship 2010 after defeating top seed, Park Jong-Woo in the semi-finals and second-seed, Sam Cooley in the finals.

Adam Cairns, who squeezed into the semi-finals elimination round edging team-mate, Steven Miller by 11 pins, first dispatched top seed, Park Jong-Woo of Korea, 246-214 in the first semi-finals to stake his claim on the gold.

In the finals against winner of the second semi, Sam Cooley of Australia, Cairns did not have to work hard as the Aussie struggled big time to hand the match to Cairns, 139-210 and giving England's its first gold medal.

"Fantastic! Yes, I'm the World Champion," exclaimed Cairns. "This is cool, unbelievable. I was so nervous," added Cairns and showing his shaking hands.

Although everyone could see that he was nervous, he managed to bowl almost without mistakes and deserved the gold medal. In the other semi-final, Cooley easily defeated Canadian Francois Lavoie with the scores 211-158 to book his place in the finals and move closer to the title.

Park Jong-Woo, despite losing, came to the medal ceremonies with a big smile on his face and was a big crowd favorite after his sizzling performance in the earlier six-games Singles qualification.

The Korean earned top seed with a total of 1447 with Sam Cooley in second with 1377. Squad 1 leader Francois Levoie and Adam Cairns finished third and fourth with 1369 and 1343 respectively.

Christian Birlinger of Germany and Basil Low of Singapore, who had a shot at advancing into the knockout stage, threw away their chances with poor final games of 159 and 171 in the third squad.

Competition resumes on Tuesday with the Girl's Doubles event and on Wednesday with the Boy's Doubles. The team events will be contested on Thursday July 29 and Friday July 30.

Photos by Ari Komulainen, Finnish Bowling Federation.

26th July, Helsinki: Korean Park Jong-Woo was on a hot streak taking over the lead of the Boy's Singles of the World Youth Championship 2010 after the second squad as Malaysia's Syimir Abdul Razak shot the championship's first perfect game.

Asian Youth Doubles silver medalist, Park Jong-Woo of Korea set a blistering pace of 268 in his opening game to take a 2 pin lead over Alexksander Kvinnesland of Norway. Park followed it up with 246 and 237 to open up a commanding lead of 65 pins with Hong Kong's Michael Mak taking over second.

The Korean added 225 and 247 in the fourth and fifth games and needed only 146 pins to topple Squad 1 leader, Francois Lavoie. A final game of 224 gave Park a total of 1447 setting a new benchmark for the third and final squad.

Andrew Koff of USA stormed home to snatch second in the squad behind Park with 1308, 139 pins adrift while Deniels Vezis of Latvia finished third with 1301. Both Koff and Vezis score oly put them fifth and eighth when the two squads were combined.

Francois Lavoie held second spot followed by England's Adam Cairns, who took third spot with 1343. Asian Youth Team gold medalist, Syimir Abdul Razak shot the championship's first 300 in his final game but only managed 34th overall with 1216.

"My fourth career 300 but just for nothing," said Syimir with a smile. "In any case, I'm happy with the 300 especially the way I achieved it. Every shot were in the pocket and the strikes were good ones."

Park looked set to advance to the knockout semi-finals with his superb 1447 and to add to the gold medal won by his team-mate, Kim Yeon-Ju in the Girl's Singles held yesterday. The final squad will complete the second day event.

Photos by Ari Komulainen, Finnish Bowling Federation.

25th July, Helsinki: Korea underlined their prowess by winning the first gold medal of World Youth Championship 2010 after second-seed Kim Yeon-Ju easily defeated Brittni Hamilton of USA, 192-155 in the final.

Kim Yeon-Ju, who won a silver and bronze medal at this year's Asian Youth Championship in Kuwait, stepped a notch to give Korea their first gold medal. In the championship match against fourth-seed, Brittni Hamilton, Kim had a easy victory after the Amercian struggled big time.

By the sixth frame, Hamilton already had four opened frames and the Korean was 80 pins ahead. Despite missing pin 10 twice in the closing stage of the match, it did not mattered much as the match was already over.

Kim ousted third-seed, Diana Zavjalova of Latvia, 214-204 in the second semi-final to reach the finals while Hamilton edged top seed, Carmen Haandrikman of the Netherlands, 60-20 in the nine and ten frames

tie-breaker after both scored 188 in the first semi-final match.

The Dutch had a chance to take the match when she needed a double and seven pins in her last frame. She obliged with a double strike but managed only 6 pins in her last throw to tie at 188.

Haandrikman led the opening squad of the earlier 6-games Singles with 1389 ahead of Kim on 1329. Diana Zavjalova tied with Brittni Hamilton in the second squad with 1320 but was seeded No. 3 on a higher final game.

Hayley WHite of England, who finished third in the second squad, missed the cut for the elimination round in fourth with 1302 while Singapore Open champion, Sin Li Jane of Malaysia finished sixth with 1288.

Competition resumed with the Boy's Singles on Monday divided into two squads. The top four after the two squads are combined will advance to the elimination round. Live video streaming of the semi-finals and final is available at www.bambuser.com/channel/WYC2010.

Photos by Ari Komulainen, Finnish Bowling Federation.

24th July, Helsinki: The lanes at Tali Bowl were totally packed when 253 players from 46 countries marched in the picturesque opening ceremonies of the 11th World Youth Bowling Championship on Saturday.

Fourty-six countries, minus Egypt who did not show up, paraded in front of a packed house during the short and simple ceremony. WTBA president, Kevin Dornberger gave a short opening speech followed by Finnish Bowling Federation, Harri Jorvinen.

The third speech was delivered by the president of the Finish Sports Federation, Timo Laitinen. He also declared the championship open by rolling the first ball and managed to knock down nine pins.

Players' oath were taken by Roosa Lundon and Perttu Jussia of Team Finland while Seija Lankinen and Timo Manninen tok the officials' oath.

The opening ceremony followed the official practice held earlier today in which teams were divided into four one-and-a-half hour practice sessions. Competition will begin on Sunday with the Girl's Singles split into two squads.

The top 4 at the end of the six-games event will advance into the semi-finals and finals shootout to determine the winners. Medal presentation will follow immediately. The Boy's Singles will be held on Monday.

Photos by Ari Komulainen, Finnish Bowling Federation.