Marshall Kent of Yakima, Wash., and Andrew Koff of Miami, won the silver medal in doubles at the 2012 World Tenpin Bowling Association World Youth Championships on Thursday in Bangkok, Thailand.
Korea’s Kim Yeon-Sang and Hwang Dong-Jun each started with three strikes en route to a 480-402 victory over Kent and Koff in the title match.
“In the medal round, I thought we bowled pretty well,” said Koff, left, who had a 215 game in the title match. “Maybe we didn’t start off as strong as we would have liked to in the final match, to put a little more pressure on them, but overall I think we bowled really well.”
The Junior Team USA duo beat Sweden’s Kim Bolleby and Magnus Johnson Jr., 436-394, in the semifinals as Kent led the way with a 245 game. The Korean team topped England’s Christopher Lam and Elliot Crosby, 421-414, in the other semifinal match.
Kent and Koff earned the No. 3 seed during the final squad of qualifying on Thursday with a 2,539 total. Lam and Crosby led all qualifiers with a 2,585 pinfall total.
“We had a game plan coming into the day and were able to follow that all day,” Kent said. “We did a good job of staying ahead of the moves.”
Chris Via of Springfield, Ohio, and Zack Hattori of Las Vegas, bowled their qualifying block on Wednesday and finished in ninth place in doubles.
Korea also took gold in girls doubles as Kim Seon-Jeong and Hwang Yeon-Ju each rolled a 253 game to beat Japan’s Misaki Mukotani and Hiraku Takekawa, 506-420, in the title match. Korea knocked off Dayang Khairuniza and Jacqueline Sijore of Malaysia, the top qualifiers, 425-411, in the semifinals while Japan took a 400-370 victory over Singapore’s New Hui Fen and Bernice Lim.
The World Youth Championships continue Friday with the first block of the four-person team competition. The second block will be Saturday, with the medal round set for Sunday. The teams will bowl three games on the medium oil pattern in the first block, and will bowl on the long oil pattern in the second block.
“I think all four of us have a good look on both patterns and know what to do,” Koff said. “I think with good communication, we should do very well.”
The top 24 boys and top 24 girls in All Events will advance to the Masters Finals on Monday. Kent is in fourth place, Via is ninth, Koff is 32nd and Hattori is 60th after singles and doubles.
In the girls’ All Events standings, Danielle McEwan of Stony Point, N.Y., and Jessica Earnest of Vandalia, Ill., are 10th and 11th, respectively. Amanda Greene of Romney, W.Va., is 16th and Kelsey Muther of Topeka, Kan., is 35th.
For more information on the 2012 World Youth Championships, visit WorldYouth2012.com.