The 2025 European Championship of Champions concluded in Vienna with two unforgettable finals, as Lukáš Jelínek of the Czech Republic and Emma Palermaa of Finland were crowned champions at Plus Bowling Center.
In the men’s division, Jelínek delivered a stunning comeback to defeat defending champion Maxime Dubois of France in a three-game thriller. After dropping the first game 202–235, Jelínek responded with 268–188 and 257–246 to win the match 2–1 and claim Czech Republic’s second-ever European Championship of Champions gold medal.
Earlier in the semifinals, Jelínek advanced past Germany’s
Paul Purps (2–1), while Dubois
eliminated Sweden’s
Teodor Samuelsson (2–1) to
reach the title match.
"It's amazing. I don't believe it actually happened. because they are
really good players and to be honest, it's awesome. I can't describe how it
feels,"
said Jelínek to Karolis Murauskas from BowlingLife after the win.
"I felt kind of comfortable on lanes throughout the whole championship,
throughout semiifinals. But after Maxim's 6-3, I finally felt really
nervous, like, really.
And you can see that show it wasn't the best, but
fortunately, I had luck all tournament It fell down and it's awesome".
During the finals, both bowlers seemed to be enjoying the moment,
constantly joking arround and interacting with crowd.
"I played against Maxim at EYC 2019 and I lost against him in
singles. And I got third. So I was like, okay, man, it's time to get some
revenge. But I think we did all positive vibes, and it was really
entertaining final for me, and I hope for all rest of us".
In the women’s division,
Finland’s
Emma Palermaa completed a dream
run through the bracket, dominating both her semifinal and final matches. The
15-year-old sensation defeated Germany’s
Laura Beuthner in two straight
games (259–220, 246–237) before sweeping England’s
Hayley Russell in the final
2–0 with scores of 279 and 244.
"I'm not sure how to feel about this, this is so insane," Emma Palermaa could't hide her joy in an interview with Erikas Jansonas from BowlingLife after claiming gold medal. "I just tried to be calm, not to think about the scores too much, and just throw good shots."
With the victory, Palermaa became the youngest champion in European Championship of Champions history, marking a historic moment for Finnish bowling.
