Bowling concludes competition out of medals, but with a wedding

by Shannon Bertling on September 15, 2009

Two members of the U.S. Bowling Team from both the women's and the men's teams were able to bowl their way into the top 16 in order to advance into Masters play Sunday and Monday. Cheyenne Rogers and Jerilyn Keller made their best effort during competition at Xinqiaofu bowling Centre, and by the end of the first block's eight games Sunday were 13th and 15th, respectively. The first day, Rogers felled 1,269 pins, and totaled 2,634 pins by the end of the next day for an average of 165 pins. She bowled her best game in the first match of block two, with 207 downed pins. Keller's first day ended with a score of 1,276, which left her tied with a Finnish bowler in 13th place. Her best match was the fourth in the second block, with 189 pins, and she also averaged 165. However, these statistics didn't compare to the top three winners of the Women's Masters play. First place went to Chien Chang of Chinese Taipei for her 3,132 pins. Toshiko Matsukiyo, of Japan, took second with 3,069, and Themis Berti, of Greece, claimed third place with 3,009. Americans Rogers and Keller felled 2,663 pins and 2,622 pins, respectively. From the men's team, Raimondas Doblmeier and Randall Perry, gold medalist in the singles event, were the only ones who made the final cut into the top 16. This time, the Koreans took for themselves all three medals that were awarded: Seonjo An held the gold with 3,325; Taein Choi, with 3,276; and Jonghoon Ham trailed behind by three to take the bronze. Raimondas came in close to the top three by the end of the first day, knocking down 1,552 pins, but fell to sixth place overall with 3,232 pins. His average of 205 pins was comparable to those of the top three finalists, but he did not earn enough bonus points to vault him ahead of the competition. His personal best during the games was a 252 in the sixth match of the second block. Teammate Perry bowled an average of 192, with 1,525 pins from the first block, and he totaled 3,095 pins after the second block. His personal best was 223 pins in match five of the second block. When asked what should be done differently for the 2013 Athens Games, coach Ed Akabumoff said, "I wish I had more information to work with." He had no idea the conditions and resulting factors of the bowling alley would be such an influence on his seasoned bowlers, he said. "I would've preferred training at that particular bowling alley rather than have gone to Chia-Yi," even though that was a fun venture, he added. All members of the bowling team, however, have said they were very impressed with how the volunteers and citizens of Taipei have conducted themselves. "They really couldn't have done any more to make the visit more pleasurable," Akabumoff said. "And I'd like to give kudos to Anna, Claire, Evelyn, Tom and Seick, in particular, for their dedication and hospitality." Patricia Brothag nodded, and then added, "I'd like to have more pins [to trade]! We ran out too soon." A Deaflympic wedding If the commitment of the U.S. athletes has ever come into doubt, the story of U.S. bowler Ronnie Zuchegno and Andrea McNeill is a tale that disputes that myth. The pair married over videophone during the Deaflympics so Zuchegno could compete in the Games. Zuchegno and McNeill met in 2001 at a softball tournament in the northeast region of America, and both sported No. 9 on their jerseys. They built a friendship through a mutual liking for the number, though each had their own reason for favoring it. They formed a relationship a few years later, and Ronnie proposed in December 2007. When debating the wedding date, McNeill suggested they marry in 2009, on Sept. 9, which would register as 9/9/09 in date format. Zuchegno liked the idea, but did not take into consideration the Deaflympics until he joined the U.S. bowling team. Once they realized the Deaflympics conflicted with their wedding date, they went back and forth trying to decide whether they should postpone the wedding or Zuchegno should leave the bowling team. "Of course, I didn't want to drop out of the team, but the wedding was important to me," Zuchegno said. Finally, somewhere along the way, they decided to conduct the wedding via videophone. "Figuring out the time zone difference was a bit tricky," Zuchegno said. "But we managed to pull it off. It was 11:54 p.m. here and 11:54 in the morning there. Micki Lewis, an ordained priest, led the ceremony and with a colleague of McNeill and the couple's two sons as witnesses, McNeill and Zuchegno wedded on 9/9/09. There will be a wedding reception for family and friends to celebrate the union later this year.

Bowling concludes competition out of medals, but with a wedding

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