Finland applied for European Championship bowling five years ago, but the competition will finally start on Wednesday. Kimmo Lehtonen, who first appeared in the national team in 1985, throws in the Finnish shirt for the last time.
The European Bowling Championships were originally scheduled to compete in August 2020, but Korona was firmly in the throes. Due to the epidemic, competitions were postponed Four times.
– It was challenging to always start the arrangements a bit like from the beginning. The search was made already in 2017, ie work has been done here for five years and at least I had it in my mind every day, the Executive Director of the Bowling Association Sami Järvilä says.
At the beginning of June, the bowling alley batteries will finally start crashing in Helsinki’s Tali. 25 countries and 146 men have registered for the competition. Russian and Belarusian bowlers will not be seen at the Games.
Finland is a large country of the species. The hardest bone of a six-man team could be 24 years old Tomas Käyhkö, who last year at the World Cup debut in Dubai grabbed the silver in the singles competition. Järvilä says that the medal goal is 3–4, one of which should be golden.
The team veteran is 54 years old Kimmo Lehtonen, who bowled on the national team as early as 1985, ie five decades of representation. It has always been a pleasure to put on a Finland shirt, but this time there is a special charge.
– Tali’s bowling alley is my second home and when I was younger it was my first home. I wanted to be able to stay so strong that I could end my career here, Lehtonen says.
The long journey has taken place in many different stages, even heavy ones. Lehtonen praises his family, but support has also come from outside. In the United States as a professional bowling Mika Koivuniemen with Lehtonen made his throwback, a psychologist and a musician From Veltto Virtanen he got help with excitement.
– I have to admit that drilling and training alone has been quite difficult at times.
There have also been awards, medals of all colors from the European and World Cup levels. Last time, Lehtonen bowled the senior World Cup doubles together Petri Mannosen with. Lehtonen appreciates the first place in the world ranking for 2005.
Lots of changes in five decades
In five decades, bowling has changed in many ways. Lehtonen admits that there has been an adjustment.
The material of the bowling alleys was changed from wood to laminate. Bowling balls are no longer urethane and miracles are done by drilling holes.
– Crash rates rose. At some point, the 300 series started to come in really high. There were far fewer of them on the balls and tracks of the past. Of course, you still have to throw the ball on the field and happily in the same way, Lehtonen laughs.
Oil is no longer applied to the tracks by hand, but machines do it automatically and accurately.
A big and spectacular change has also taken place on the pace. Finland Osku Palermaa was among the first to throw the ball with both hands and gained a lot of followers. Lehtonen states that after these kilometers and after hundreds of thousands of repetitions, he remains an old-school bowler.
The fact that at the Junior European Championships held in Tilburg, the Netherlands last autumn, all members of the Finnish four-man boys’ team took the ball with both hands says a lot about the rise in two-handedness.
For Lehtonen, the European Championships are the last at the international level. There is stuff in the prize closet, but there is always room for more.
– I have been thinking of allowing myself to enjoy the milieu and people of Tali. Of course we will start to win, I will not give up.