Europe pile on the misery to lead by six

Europe pile on the misery to lead by six

October 17th, 2015

Europe 9-3 USA

Osku Palermaa 257-160 Wes Malott
Williams/Palermaa 227-182 Malott/Bohn III
Stuart Williams 234-246 Parker Bohn III
Barrett/Larsen 193-187 O’Neill/Jones
Martin Larsen 214-289 Tommy Jones
Palermaa/Barrett 228-216 Bohn III/O’Neill

TEAM EUROPE piled on the misery at the Dafabet Weber Cup as they won the Saturday afternoon session 4-2 to increase their lead to six games as they’d surged into a 9-3 lead at the Barnsley Metrodome. The Americans threatened as they won the third and fifth games with great singles wins from Parker Bohn III and Tommy Jones, but were immediately pegged back as the Europeans kept their shape in the doubles matches.

The Americans were looking to at least win the session, but Malott guttered the opening ball of Saturday afternoon to leave the crowd stunned in silence and that set the tone for the match. His opponent Osku Palermaa started fast and soon left the big American behind as he ran out a 97 pin winner.

There was more misery in the next for Malott this time with partner Parker Bohn, as they couldn’t muster anything as they were soundly beaten by Stuart Williams and Osku Palermaa once again.

The US finally shifted a gear as Parker Bohn III earned his first Weber Cup point in what was the match of the tournament so far as he held off Stuart Williams to win by 12 pins. It was a big moment as it stemmed the points haemorrhage and gave the US a platform to launch some sort of fight back.

Commented Bohn, “We had to break Europe’s momentum and fortunately for me the monkey is off my back because I got my first win. We changed balls for that round and I picked up my speed a little bit trying to get the ball to shape up through the pins and fortunately aside for the first frame, it looked very, very good.

“I don’t think we are worried. We knew that 7-1 was a commanding lead but that being said, they aren’t even halfway there. You need 17 so there is still a long, long way to go.

“The atmosphere is outstanding. When I go to a new place I look to see how much they know about the sport of bowling and if there is one thing for sure, everybody here certainly knows our wonderful sport.

“They want to see great performances out there on the lanes and I believe regardless of what country you are from, you want to see the best on top.”

Any momentum the USA may have had slipped away in the next as the Europeans outlasted them for the point in a low-scoring scrappy match. Barrett and Larsen edged out Jones and O’Neill, scraping home by six pins after O’Neill left a damaging split late in the game.

Tommy Jones though recovered to come within one pin of recording his fifth Weber Cup 300 game. Having chalked up 12 consecutive strikes, he left the 6 pin standing in his final roll but it was plenty to defeat Martin Larsen and reduce arrears.

Once again though, any chance of some US momentum was thwarted in the final game of the session as they lost another close match as Palermaa and Barrett edged out Bohn and O’Neill to lead 9-3 after two sessions.

Euro skipper Dom Barrett said, “It is pretty intense out there and every time you step out on the lane you can really feel the atmosphere and how much it means to each continent. Stu and I are here representing England in England but there is so much more than that because we have the whole of Europe supporting us.

“We have picked the pattern for this evening and it isn’t too far away so we need to go and practice straight away. It is a long day and really non-stop for us.

“The pattern we have picked is the same as last night, we bowled great and won the session 5-1. We want to keep everything the same as last night and get that feeling again. They picked the pattern there and we won the session 4-2, so the pattern doesn’t matter that much.”

Taking place at the Metrodome in Barnsley from Friday to Sunday 16th to 18th October, a win for Europe would tie the overall Weber Cup score at 8-8. There is one change to last year’s victorious side as Mika Koivuniemi steps down as his career moves in the direct of coaching. He is replaced by former captain Osku Palermaa (Finland) who last played in 2012.

Captaining the side is England’s Dom Barrett and he will be once again joined by PBA star Stuart Williams and Sweden’s Martin Larsen.

Weber Cup XVI commences at 7pm (UK time) on Friday, October 16 with sessions at 1pm and 6pm on both Saturday, October 17 and Sunday, October 18. The entire tournament will be broadcast live on Sky Sports in the UK, ESPN3 in America and ESPN Latin America.

Tenpin fans around the world can enjoy the full HD production online at www.webercup.com with a season pass to watch the entire event costing just $19.99. To register for the live stream visit www.webercup.com/watch-live and follow the instructions.

Live streaming is not available in the UK and Ireland via webercup.com. Sky Sports subscribers can watch online and mobile devices via Sky Go. Non Sky Sports subscribers wishing to watch the Weber Cup live can purchase a Now TV Day or Week Pass from www.NowTV.com.