The men's singles Top 32 is set at the 2026 IBF World Cup in Munich. Round 1 finished on Saturday, and the top two bowlers from each of the 16 pools advanced to the knockout bracket, which starts on Sunday.
Round 1 was played in four groups. Each group was split into four pools of 11 or 12 bowlers. Every bowler played 11 one-game matches, with 3 points for a win and 1 for a tie. A bye counted as a win. The top two in each pool advanced.
Jesper Svensson of Sweden and Mikael Aron Vilhelmsson of Iceland were the only bowlers to reach the maximum 33 points. Svensson won Group B, Pool 4 with an average of 218.4 (2,402 pins). Vilhelmsson won Group C, Pool 1 with 213.7.
Robin Ilhammar of Sweden had the highest average of any man in Round 1, 226.1 (2,487 pins), in Group C, Pool 4. Ryan Barnes of the United States followed at 225.7 in Group D, Pool 4. Lukas Jelinek of the Czech Republic opened Group A, Pool 4 with a 300 game, and Mathias Ankerdal of Denmark bowled 297 in Group C, Pool 1.
Who advanced from each pool
Tournament Standings
Pool Winners & Qualifiers
Top 2 advancers from each pool moving to the Round of 32:
Group A
Pool A1
2
Giorgio Gragnaniello
Italy
24 pts
220.2 avg
Pool A2
1
Jovi Ma
Hong Kong, China
30 pts
224.5 avg
Pool A3
1
Simon Hrusovsky
Slovakia
24 pts
203.8 avg
2
Mathias Danielsen Otting
Norway
21 pts
193.8 avg
Pool A4
2
Lukas Jelinek
Czech Republic
27 pts
210.3 avg
Group B
Pool B1
2
Nu'man Syahmi
Singapore
24 pts
207.5 avg
Pool B2
1
Evangelos Krizinis
Greece
25 pts
207.5 avg
2
Matus Hrusovsky
Slovakia
25 pts
200.5 avg
Pool B3
2
Jackson Buckingham
Australia
24 pts
209.8 avg
Pool B4
2
Keith Mark
Hong Kong, China
27 pts
204.6 avg
Group C
Pool C1
1
Mikael Aron Vilhelmsson
Iceland
33 pts
213.7 avg
2
Mathias Ankerdal
Denmark
27 pts
221.6 avg
Pool C2
2
Walter Alessandro Santu
Italy
24 pts
194.9 avg
Pool C3
1
Mihai Alin Dragnia
Romania
27 pts
207.2 avg
2
Mathijs Beverdam
Netherlands
21 pts
210.5 avg
Pool C4
2
David Mojka
Czech Republic
24 pts
200.6 avg
Group D
Pool D1
2
Shing Hei Tang
Macao, China
27 pts
197.0 avg
Pool D2
1
Mark Jacobs
Netherlands
27 pts
188.6 avg
2
Arnar David Jonsson
Iceland
24 pts
200.5 avg
Pool D4
1
Ryan Barnes
United States
27 pts
225.7 avg
21 federations in the Top 32
Sweden has three men in the bracket: Svensson, Ilhammar and Markus Jansson. Singapore, Italy, Hong Kong, Denmark, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Canada, Iceland and the Netherlands each have two. Australia, Croatia, France, Germany, Greece, Kuwait, Macao, Norway, Peru, Romania and the United States each have one.
Top 32 matchups
The Top 32 is a best-of-three-games knockout, played in two rounds of eight matches.
Bracket Matchups
Round of 32 Matchups
Head-to-head pairings and lane assignments across both waves:
Wave 1 • Lanes 9–24
Match 1
Lanes 9–10
Basil Ng
Singapore
Aseel Alroomi
Kuwait
Match 3
Lanes 11–12
Jesper Svensson
Sweden
Mathias Ankerdal
Denmark
Match 5
Lanes 13–14
Jovi Ma
Hong Kong, China
Roko Knezic
Croatia
Match 7
Lanes 15–16
Adrian Tokashiki
Peru
Walter Alessandro Santu
Italy
Match 9
Lanes 17–18
Simon Hrusovsky
Slovakia
Arnar David Jonsson
Iceland
Match 11
Lanes 19–20
Evangelos Krizinis
Greece
Mathijs Beverdam
Netherlands
Match 13
Lanes 21–22
Tobias Börding
Germany
Shing Hei Tang
Macao, China
Match 15
Lanes 23–24
Zachary Wilkins
Canada
David Mojka
Czech Republic
Wave 2 • Lanes 9–24
Match 2
Lanes 9–10
Mikael Aron Vilhelmsson
Iceland
Keith Mark
Hong Kong, China
Match 4
Lanes 11–12
Ryan Barnes
United States
Giorgio Gragnaniello
Italy
Match 6
Lanes 13–14
Gregory Rius
France
Jackson Buckingham
Australia
Match 8
Lanes 15–16
Israel Potter
Canada
Carsten Hansen
Denmark
Match 10
Lanes 17–18
Mihai Alin Dragnia
Romania
Matus Hrusovsky
Slovakia
Match 12
Lanes 19–20
Mark Jacobs
Netherlands
Mathias Danielsen Otting
Norway
Match 14
Lanes 21–22
Robin Ilhammar
Sweden
Nu'man Syahmi
Singapore
Match 16
Lanes 23–24
Markus Jansson
Sweden
Lukas Jelinek
Czech Republic
What happens next
The men's singles knockout stages are scheduled for Sunday, October 18, according to the event schedule published by the organizers in Bulletin 3. Times are Munich local time (CEST, UTC+2).
Championship Sunday
Men's Finals Schedule
Sunday, October 18 timetable:
Top 32
Round of 32
11:00–13:10
Quarter-finals
Round of 8
16:40
Semi-finals
Medal Round
17:35
Final
Championship Match
18:20–19:20
The women's Top 32 is scheduled for 08:10 the same morning. Men's team Round 2 starts on Monday, October 19, with Groups A and B, and Groups C and D follow on Tuesday.
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