BOWLING: Team USA adds to medal count to close Championship of the Champions

SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador - A day after a heartbreaking defeat in mixed doubles at the 2008 Pan American Bowling Confederation Championship of the Champions, Team USA's Shannon O'Keefe and John Janawicz rebounded Friday to win the gold medal in the mixed doubles Masters.

O'Keefe and Janawicz teamed up to defeat Guatemala's Sofia Granda and Mauricio Pinol, 2-0, at Galaxy Bowling to conclude the inaugural Championship of the Champions.

"This is very satisfying because we bowled really well together," said Janawicz, who also won the gold medal in men's Masters on Friday. "Shannon helped me out a lot and we really worked together as a team. This was definitely a team gold medal."

After giving up a big lead and settling for the silver in mixed doubles Thursday, O'Keefe shot 223 and Janawicz had 202 as the pair clinched the Masters title with a 425-404 win in the deciding match.

In the opening game, O'Keefe shot 243 and Janawicz added 187 as the pair took a 430-419 victory. Pinol had a chance to tie the match, needing to convert the 2-4-5 spare and strike, but he left the 5 pin standing on the spare attempt to give Team USA the win.

"This gold medal makes up for yesterday's disappointment," O'Keefe said. "We worked really hard today and fortunately we got the breaks today that we didn't get yesterday."

Janawicz earned the gold in the men's Masters by defeating Francisco Sanchez of El Salvador, 2-1. Janawicz lost the first game by a 216-179 margin but rebounded to win the final two games 223-178 and 233-194.

In the women's Masters, O'Keefe settled for the bronze medal. After defeating Costa Rica's Viviana Delgado, 207-156, she lost to Puerto Rico's Jessica Santiago, 176-175. Santiago threw all three strikes in the final frame to force O'Keefe to throw a strike on her first shot in the 10th frame, but O'Keefe left a 4-pin.

In the championship match, Santiago defeated Venezuela's Alicia Marcano, 2-0 (226-174 and 225-180), to win the gold medal.

The United States won a medal in every event in the Championship of the Champions, claiming gold medals in men's singles, women's singles, men's all-events, women's all-events, national all-events, men's Masters and mixed doubles Masters while taking silver in mixed doubles and bronze in women's Masters.

For more information on the 2008 Championship of the Champions, including stories, photos, results and videos, visit bowl.com.

2008 PABCON CHAMPIONSHIP OF THE CHAMPIONS
Galaxy Bowling, San Salvador, El Salvador
Friday's Results

MIXED DOUBLES MASTERS

QUARTERFINALS
(One game)

Hilton Nunez/Aumi Guerra, Dominican Republic, def. Francisco Colon/Jessica Santiago, Puerto Rico, 397-367
Daniel Falconi/Adriana Perez, Mexico, def. Arturo Hernandez/Alicia Marcano, Venezuela, 438-409
John Janawicz/Shannon O'Keefe, United States, def. Aida Granillo/Francisco Sanchez, El Salvador, 400-372
Mauricio Pinol/Sofia Granda, Guatemala, def. David Romero/Laura Fonnegra, Colombia, 355-325

SEMIFINALS
(One game; losers tie for third and earn bronze)

Janawicz/O'Keefe def. Nunez/Guerra, 435-367
Pinol/Granda def. Falconi/Perez, 431-378

CHAMPIONSHIP
(Best two of three; winner takes gold, loser earns silver)

Janawicz/O'Keefe def. Pinol/Granda, 2-0 (430-419, 425-404)


MEN'S MASTERS

QUARTERFINALS
(One game)

John Janawicz, United States, def. Mauricio Pinol, Guatemala, 241-189
Francisco Colon, Puerto Rico, def. Daniel Falconi, Mexico, 213-187
Francisco Sanchez, El Salvador, def. David Romero, Colombia, 213-197
Mark Buffa, Canada, def. Arturo Hernandez, Venezuela, 204-159

SEMIFINALS
(One game; losers tie for third and earn bronze)

Janawicz def. Buffa, 267-197
Sanchez def. Colon, 235-159

CHAMPIONSHIP
(Best two of three; winner takes gold, loser earns silver)

Janawicz def. Sanchez, 2-1 (179-216, 223-178, 233-194)


WOMEN'S MASTERS

QUARTERFINALS
(One game)

Shannon O'Keefe, United States, def. Viviana Delgado, Costa Rica, 207-156
Laura Fonnegra, Colombia, def., Sofia Granda, Guatemala, 180-161
Jessica Santiago, Puerto Rico, def. Aumi Guerra, Dominican Republic, 219-175
Alicia Marcano, Venezuela, def. Adriana Perez, Mexico, 256-203

SEMIFINALS
(One game; losers tie for third and earn bronze)

Santiago def. O'Keefe, 176-175
Marcano def. Fonnegra, 188-142

CHAMPIONSHIP
(Best two of three; winner takes gold, loser earns silver)