Melton tenpin bowler storms into European top three

The 18-year-old travelled with the England team to Iceland for the European Championships and returned home with an unexpected four-medal haul in her suitcase.

Katie’s targets were modest as she faced difficult lane conditions and elite opposition, pinning her medal hopes on the team event. The England girls last year failed to win any medals at the event.

But the Melton teenager was in blistering form as qualifying began for the opening competition: the girls’ doubles.

After the first day, she had the highest pin fall of any competitor with a whopping six-game average of 236.

The England duo went on to win an excellent silver medal, narrowly losing out to the Germans in the final.

England then qualified for the semi-finals of the team event and claimed the bronze medal after losing to a powerful Swedish team in the last four. Katie played her part, again averaging more than 200 per game.

Her barnstorming form continued in the singles where her total pin fall after 18 games placed her in third spot afor another bronze medal.

She was topped only by Swedish and Russian bowlers who are ranked among the world’s best.

The final Masters event saw the top 24 bowlers play against each other in a matchplay format.

Katie was seeded because of her third position so received a bye into the second round.

She won two matches to reach a semi-final against the all-conquering Russian.

In a best-of-three match, Katie took her to the final game only to lose by three pins for her third bronze medal.

As well as her medals, Katie left Iceland as the third best Under 19 tenpin bowler in Europe and has dropped a big hint for selection for July’s world championships in the United States.