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Bowling News USA - October 3, 2009 Storm Staffers Battle it out at Weber Cup...

EUROPE are six points away from winning the PartyCasino.com Weber Cup for the first time in four years.

Trailing 4-2 at the start of the second day, the European outfit produced a remarkable fightback as they won nine of the 12 available points to jump into an 11-7 lead in the first-to-17 competition.

However, American captain and Storm International star Tim Mack insisted his side would not go down without a fight.

"We got as unlucky today as you can get in bowling," insisted Mack.

"Tommy Jones had a solid seven and lost a match, there was a solid nine and we lost the match, Chris Barnes had a solid nine and lost a match and Jason Couch had a solid seven and lost a match.

"If we had turned any of those four into strikes then we would've won them all. All of them were in the pocket, perfect shots.

"The Europeans bowled good so you have to give credit where it's due but they had much better breaks than we did but that's bowling.

"We have to bowl really well early tomorrow and have a 4-2 or 5-1 session. It will take a Herculian effort but we've been behind before and come back.

"Being four behind is a lot harder to come back from than two behind but we have to find a way of winning some matches."

EUROPE started the third session 7-5 ahead and immediately extended the lead further by winning the opening match on Saturday evening.

Debutant Martin Larsen claimed his first ever Weber Cup point with a near-faultless performance as he thrashed Jason Couch by 290-194, with the winning margin of 96 pins the widest of this year's competition so far.

Larsen sparred the opening frame but then struck out with Couch never in the running to take the victory.

"I really wanted to get into the game as I had been struggling," said Larsen. "It's my first time here and the team are bowling unbelievably but I wasn't doing well.

"I've nothing to lose so I've just been trying to go in there and do something. It's good to be able to bowl of a fresh condition and the guys are happy that there are five of us in the team now and not just four."

America needed a big performance from their captain Tim Mack and he responded with a 255-225 victory over England's Paul Moor.

Mack made a blistering start with six successive strikes, while Moor could onlt get a spare in the fourth. In the next, Moor left a 2,4,6,7,10 split but made it for an unlikely spare.

Mack then did the rest for the victory, meaning every player on either side had won a point in singles action or as part of a doubles pairing.

The third match of the session was a thrilling singles encounter between Storm staffers Osku Palermaa and Pete Weber.

Palermaa started with five strikes, while spares in the fourth and fifth frames from Weber eventually cost him. However, Palermaa had a spare in the tenth and Weber would have won the point if he struck out in the tenth frame.

But Weber left the 10-pin standing and showed his frustration as he sunk to his knees and punched the floor. Weber was so angry did not go for the spare so the scoreline of 240-213 does not reflect how close this match was.

The next clash was another thrilling one as Mika Koivuniemi met Tommy Jones. Koivuniemi left an open frame in the second before Jones did likewise in the third. Two more spares from the American appeared to prove crucial but he responded well with six successive strikes to claim a valuable point. The overall score was now 9-7.

There was great drama in the next match between Chris Barnes and Storm's Dominic Barrett.

Barnes appeared to be heading towards a comfortable victory after five strikes in the opening six frames. He left an open frame in the seventh but in the eighth he suffered an equipment malfunction as the thumb grip snapped during the shot and ended on Barnes' thumb.

It affected the throw as the ball nearly went into the gutter and then only managed to hit three of the pins.

Barnes's team-mates Tim Mack and Tommy Jones desperately tried to get the ball fixed during the rest of the match but it meant Barnes was left with only his strike ball.

The incident in effect cost Barnes the point and Barrett was happy to take full advantage as he won a point he had not looked like doing.

"The bottom piece broke off," explained Barnes. "It was a ball I've been using for a long time and I thought it would last a little longer so it's my mistake.

"But it certainly changed the momentum of the match but in the frame before I had a chance to go up by 35 pins and didn't spare."

Europe completed a fantastic day by winning the final baker match. It came right down to the wire and Koivuniemi needed two strikes in the tenth to claim a tight win. He held his nerve and won the point for Europe.



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