Mika Koivuniemi
| Mika Koivuniemi | |
|---|---|
Koivuniemi in 2011
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| Born |
Mika Juhani Koivuniemi 6 April 1967 Tampere, Finland |
| Other names |
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| Occupation | Ten-Pin Bowler |
| Years active | 1999–2016 |
| Spouse(s) | Leena Koivuniemi |
Mika Juhani Koivuniemi (born 6 April 1967) is a Finnish former ten-pin bowler. He competed on the Professional Bowlers Association (PBA) tour in the United States, and won bowling titles in 21 different countries during his career.
Growing up, Koivuniemi was an exceptional athlete, starring in three sports in high school: basketball, hockey, and soccer. Koivuniemi eventually became interested in bowling and made Team Finland in 1988 at age 21. He was an exceptional bowler for Team Finland, winning the 1991 FIQ World Championship, the 1995 European Individual Cup Championship, and the 1996 World Team Cup Championship.
On April 15, 2011 Koivuniemi captured the championship in the 2011 World Bowling Tour (WBT) Finals in Las Vegas, Nevada. As the #1 seed for the three-person stepladder final, Koivuniemi earned the WBT title by defeating Sean Rash of the USA 237-224 in a single-game match.
Mika has won bowling titles in 21 different countries (Austria, Bahrain, Canada, China, Colombia, Denmark, England, France, Germany, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Netherlands, Qatar, Singapore, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Thailand, USA, and his home country of Finland).
Koivuniemi joined the PBA in 1999. He had some initial success, but his first big season did not come until the 2001-02 season when he entered 27 events, cashed in 20, made match play 15 times, made the TV finals three times, and won one title. So far, Koivuniemi's biggest season was the 2003-04 season, when he was awarded PBA Player of the Year honors (joining Venezuela's Amleto Monacelli as the only international players so honored) and also won the PBA's George Young High Average Award. During that season he entered 20 events, cashed in 16, made match play 13 times, made TV seven times, and won two titles. It was during this season that Koivuniemi bowled the 16th-ever televised 300 game in PBA Tour history, in a match against Jason Couch.
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