Mike Fagan leads top 16 into Round Robin Match Play in Helsinki

    01/15/12

    2012 European Bowling Tour #1

    Krista Pöllänen wins women's ranking to take the lead in 2012 EBT and WBT ranking

    201112PBAMikeFagan.jpg2011EBT18PasiUotila.jpgMike Fagan (pictured left), United States, used back-to-back 279s games to lead Final Round One in the Brunswick Ballmaster Open Sunday morning at Tali Bowling Center in Helsinki, Finland.

    The two-time PBA champion knocked down 1839 pins, an average of 229.88 for eight games, to lead the top 16 players into round robin match play. Three-time Ballmaster champion Pasi Uotila (right), Finland, was mere six pins behind in second place with 1833.

    2010ESBCTeemuRaatikainen.jpg201112PBAChrisBarnes.jpgAlso targeting an unprecedented fourth Ballmaster title is two-time defending champion Mika Koivuniemi. The "big Finn" totaled 1791 to make the second cut in ninth place.

    PBA superstar and reigning WTBA World Champion in Masters, Chris Barnes (left), United States, closed out his series with 289 to rocket into 15th place with 1748. Team Finland veteran Teemu Raatikainen (right) took the 16th and last spot to advance with 1740 and an average of 217.50.

    Five Finns, four Americans and four Swedes, and one player each from Australia, England and Germany are still in the race for the first European Bowling Tour and World Bowling Tour title of the 2012 season.

    2011BWCKristaPollanen2.jpg2011AUSMSandraAndersson.jpgThe Finns are targeting to extend their winning streak in the 42nd Ballmaster Open to 16. The last non-Finnish winner was Norway's Tore Torgersen in 1996.

    Among those, who were eliminated in the first round of the finals, was qualifying leader Ronnie Russell (1717, 22nd), United States, as well as Krista Pöllänen (left), Finland, and Sandra Andersson (right), Sweden, the only women in the finals.

    Pöllänen topped Andersson by 18 pins, 1592 to 1574 including eight pins handicap each game, to win the women's ranking in Helsinki and to become the first leader of both the 2012 EBT and WBT ranking.

    2012BallmasterLogo_small.jpg The 42nd Brunswick Ballmaster Open is the first of five "EBT Gold" events, the second-highest EBT category, in the 2012 season. The tournament runs Friday Jan. 6 through Sunday Jan. 15, 2012 at 36-lane Tali Bowl in Finland's capital city Helsinki.

    Players compete for total prize money of 90.300 Euro with 12.000 Euro going to the winner, 8.000 to the runner-up and 4.000 and 3.000 to the third and fourth place finishers, respectively.

    Note: As a consequence of the Finnish tax regulations, there is a tax on prize money for non-Finnish participants. The tax, which is 15% of any prize, will be deducted from the prizes by the organizer.

    Qualifying of the 2012 Brunswick Ballmaster Open ran through Saturday, Jan. 14, and ended with Squad 16 and the ultimate one-game Desperado Squad on Saturday night. Women receive 8 pins handicap each game, a standard for women on the European Bowling Tour.

    The BBO 2012 features a 39.5 feet lane conditioning pattern..

    A total of 48 players - the top 44 from the overall qualifying standings plus the top 4 from the Desperado Squad - qualified for the finals on Sunday, Jan. 15. No byes were given in this tournament.

    The finals are similar to the old PBA format. All 48 finalists bowled 8 games starting from scratch to cut to the top 16 who advanced to the match play portion with the pinfall of Round 1 being carried forward

    Those 16 will bowl 15 games of round robin match play. Players earn 30 bonus pins for each match won and 15 points for a tied match. The top 4 players after 23 games including bonus will determine the champion in a traditional stepladder final.

    The No. 4 seed meets the No. 3 in the opening match and the winner takes on the No. 2 seed for the right to bowl the top seed for the title, the 12.000 Euro top prize and 150 ranking points.

    2011EBT01KristaPollanen_small.jpg201112PBAMikaKoivuniemi_small.jpg Reigning PBA Player of the Year Mika Koivuniemi (pictured left) is the two-time defending Ballmaster Open champion. In the 2012 title match, the "Big Finn" topped fellow PBA champion Sean Rash, United States, 236-191, to claim his third career Ballmaster title.

    2009 World Games champion Krista Pöllänen (right), Finland, finished the tournament in ninth place to win the women's ranking.

    2012EBTLogo_small.jpg The 2012 European Bowling Tour consists of 22 tour stops in 17 countries including two Platinum, five Gold, eight Silver and seven Satellite tournaments.

    The top 50 men and the top 50 women in each event receive ranking points. The winner of a Platinum tournament receives 250 ranking points, the winner of a Gold tournament such as the Brunswick Ballmaster Open gets 150, the winner of a Silver tournament earns 100, and the winner of a Satellite tournament gets 50 ranking points.

    The top 16 men and the top 16 women at the end of the 2012 season qualify for the sixth EBT Masters to be held Sept. 23rd, 2013 at BNC Bowling Center in Bratislava, Slovakia.

    WBTLogo_small.jpg The Ballmaster is also the first event on World Bowling Tour, which was inaugurated in 2011. The 2012 WBT consists of 14 tournaments in America, Asia, Europe and Australia - five in the United States and one each in Australia, Austria, Bahamas, Finland, France, Japan, Korea, Kuwait and Thailand,.

     


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    2012 Brunswick Ballmaster Open - Final Round 1


    The top 16 advance to round robin match play.

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