Agerbo, Kulick win gold in World Singles

Jesper Agerbo of Denmark and defending women’s champion Kelly Kulick of the United States struck gold in the World Singles Championships which concluded yesterday with the knock-out finals at Qatar Bowling Center in Doha.Along with the gold medal, Agerbo and Kulick received 8,000 and 6,000 dollar bonuses, respectively.Agerbo, a seven-time European champion, flew past 19-year-old Rafiq Ismail of Malaysia, 256-205, to seal the victory.PWBA spokesperson Kulick, who won the inaugural World Singles Championships in Cyprus in 2012, defeated 2016 PWBA Rookie of the Year New Hui Fen of Singapore, 214-195, to successfully defend her title.In the semi-finals, Agerbo, who won three gold medals at the 2016 European Championships (singles, trios and all-events), eliminated No. 4 seed, Joonas Jahi of Finland, 234-168. Jahi won two gold medals at the 2016 European Championships (doubles and team) and finished second to Agerbo in all-events.In the other match, Ismail sidelined three-time Asian champion Michael Mak (right) of Hong Kong, 235-224. Ismail received the silver medal while Mak and Jahi both got a bronze medal.The women’s medal round featured three USA vs. Singapore matches. Fourth-seeded New, who won the season-ending Smithfield PWBA Tour Championship for her first career PWBA title and the first major, edged top-seeded world champion Shannon Pluhowsky, 238-237, to advance to the title match.Second-seeded Kulick, who made sports history by winning the 2010 PBA Tournament of Champions to become the first woman to win a PBA Tour event, eliminated New’s teammate and No. 3 seed, Shayna Ng, 216-172, in the other semifinal match. New earned the silver medal while Pluhowsky and Ng shared the bronze medal. (BowlingDigital.com)