"The God was Romanian today," the Romanian Bowling Federation wrote later today as Romanian duet Mihai-Alin Dragnia and Mate Balazs-Becsi emerged victorious at the European Youth Championships Doubles event in Tali Bowling, Helsinki, Finland.
It marked Mate Balazs-Becsi's second medal at EYC 2024, following his bronze medal win in the Singles event earlier in the week.
A total of 49 doubles teams participated in the event, with only four advancing to the semi-finals after six qualification games.
In their journey to the final, Mihai-Alin Dragnia and Mate Balazs-Becsi finished second in the qualifications, and in the semi-finals, they defeated Magnus Rehnquist and Benjamin Kjærsgaard Kristensen of Denmark with a score of 430-413.
In the other semi-final, Finns Jussi Laine and Markus Lahti overcame defending doubles event champion Emil Svensson andhis compatriot Carl Eklund of Sweden with a score of 500-392.
In a tense final match, the Romanian athletes triumphed over the Finnish pair, clinching the title with a 433-433 victory and asserting their dominance in the Boy's Doubles event this year.
Gold medals - Mihai-Alin Dragnia & Mate Balazs-Becsi (Romania)
Silver medals - Jussi Laine & Markus Lahti (Finland)
Bronze medals - Magnus Rehnquist & Benjamin Kjærsgaard Kristensen (Denmark) | Emil Svensson & Carl Eklund (Sweden)
Sixteen best performers will advance to the next round of the All-Event category after 18 qualification games. Here are the top 8 performers after twelve games in the Boys All-Event.
Full standings can be found here.
All European Youth Championships activities will be held from the 25th of March to the 1st of April 2024.
