Gery Verbruggen sets the tone in 2012 Brunswick Euro Challenge

    03/18/12

    2012 European Bowling Tour #4

    Past European Bowling Tour ranking champion rolls 1375 series; cut for 52nd place is 1159

    2012EBT04GeryVerbruggen.jpg2012EBT04MichaelHolzapfel.jpgThe 2012 Brunswick Euro Challenge got underway with three qualifying squads Saturday at Plaza Saint Maximin in Saint Maximin, France. Four-time European Bowling Tour Point ranking champion Gery Verbruggen (pictured left) of Belgium had games of 210, 237, 226, 222. 234 and 246 to lead the field of 88 players from Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Russia and United States with 1375 six-game total and an average of 229.17.

    German internationals Michael Holzapfel and Dirk Dreyer led Squad 2 on Saturday morning, which kicked off the BEC after Squad 1 on Friday was cancelled due to the low number of entries. Holzapfel (right) used a 279 games for 1329 pinfall total to finish the day ion second place, 18 pins ahead of Dreyer, who took third place with 1311.

    2012EBT04JeromeDurupt.jpgFourth place belonged to Pierre Montagne, France, who was second to Verbruggen in Squad 3 with 1303 after finishing his series with back-to-back 238 games. His compatriot JĂ©rome Durupt (left) led Squad 4 with 1289 including the second 279 game of the day to sit in fifth place.

    Alexandra Combes and Valérie Murat-Mourgues were the best of 17 women in 17th and 18th place with 1272 and 1269, respectively, including 8 pins handicap per game. With 21 qualifying squads to go, their fellow countrywoman Nadège Maitre holds the 52nd and last place to advance to finals with 1159.

    2012BECLogo_small.jpg The Brunswick Euro Challenge is the fourth tournament on the 2012 European Bowling Tour schedule and one of only two "Platinum" events, the EBT's highest category. The BEC is also the seventh event of the 2012 World Bowling Tour and the second of three WBT events in Europe this season.

    The tournament will be held from March 16-25 at 28-laner Le Plaza Bowling in Saint Maximin near Paris, France and offers total prize money of 106.000 Euro, approximately US $140,000 with 15.000 Euro going to the winner, 7.500 Euro to the runner-up and 5.000 Euro to the third place finisher.

    Qualifying continues on Sunday, March 18, with Squads 5-7 scheduled for 9 a.m., 1 and 5 p.m. CET.

    ValckeBowling.jpg BowlingdigitalBanner.gif The 2012 Brunswick Euro Challenge is organized and conducted by Brunswick distributor Valcke Bowling. Bowlingdigital.com will cover the event live from Le Plaza Bowling with stories and results after each round including live streaming, high definition videos and high quality photos.

    Live streaming starts with the stepladder finals of the WTBA International Open Wednesday, March 21st from 3.30 to 4.30 p.m. Central European Time (10.30 a.m. EST; 10.30 p.m. Hong Kong time). Live streaming of the 2012 Brunswick Euro Challenge stepladder finals will start on Sunday, March 25th at 6.30 p.m. Central European Time (12.30 p.m. EST; 12.30 a.m. on the 26th Hong Kong time). The award ceremonies are scheduled for 7.30 p.m. CET.

    BEC qualifying runs through Saturday, March. 24 with the final Squad 25 slated for 8 p.m. Qualifying concludes with the ultimate one-game Desperado Squad at 11.30 p.m. Women will receive 8 pins handicap each game throughout the entire event, a standard for women on the European Bowling Tour.

    A total of 64 players will qualify for the finals on Sunday, March 25, the top 52 in the overall qualifying standings, the top 8 of a separate leaderboard of the squads conducted March 16-19 plus the top 4 of the Desperado Squad. The top 12 qualifiers will receive one bye.

    The remaining 52 finalists will bowl six games scratch to cut to the top 16 who will join the top 12 qualifiers in Round Two. Those 28 will bowl another six games scratch after which the field will be trimmed to the top 8 players who will carry their pinfall total forward into the match play round.

    After seven games round robin match play (30 for each win; 15 for each tie) the top 3 players will determine the champion in a stepladder final. The No. 3 seed bowls the No. 2 seed and the winner of the semifinal match takes on the No. 1 seed for the title, and the 15.00 Euro top prize.

    2012EBTLogo_small.jpg The 2012 European Bowling Tour is made up of 21 events in 16 countries including two Platinum, four Gold, eight Silver and seven Satellite tournaments.

    The top 50 men and the top 50 women in each event earn ranking points based on how they finish in the event. The winner of a Platinum tournament such as the Brunswick Euro Challenge receives 250 ranking points, the winner of a Gold tournament gets 150, the winner of a Silver tournament earns 100, and the winner of a Satellite tournament gets 50 ranking points.

    Those points will be tabulated throughout the season to determine the top 16 men and top 16 women who will compete in the sixth EBT Masters in Bratislava, Slovakia in Sept. 2013.

    2012 European Bowling Tour Rankings
    EBT Women's Ranking
    EBT Men's Ranking

    WBTLogo_small.jpgThe ninth edition of the Brunswick Euro Challenge is also the seventh event of the 2012 World Bowling Tour organized by the World Tenpin Bowling Association. After the Bahamas Classic has been postponed the 2012 WBT consists of 13 tournaments in America, Asia, Europe and Australia - five in the United States and one each in Australia, Austria, Finland, France, Japan, Korea, Kuwait and Thailand.

    Players earn ranking points based on how they finish in each event. The current points system is based on a continuous two-year cycle, so points earned in 2011 are added to points earned in 2012 to determine the points list.

    The top three men and top three women will be invited to compete in the World Bowling Tour Finals presented by the Professional Bowlers Association at the end of 2012 featuring total prize fund of $70,000.

    World Bowling Tour Rankings
    WBT Women's Ranking
    WBT Men's Ranking

    The World Tenpin Bowling Association, which is made up of 115 bowling federations, governs the sport throughout the world. For more information on WTBA and the World Bowling Tour, visit WorldTenpinBowling.com.

     


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    Qualifying Standings after Squad 4/25

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