Austrian Michael Loos shoots 1424 series to take early lead at 6th QubicaAMF Open

    04/18/12

    2012 European Bowling Tour #6

    Nine 1300-plus series and three 300 games rolled on the first day of qualifying

    2012EBT06MichaelLoos2.jpgThe 6th QubicaAMF Open 2012 got underway Tuesday at Gladiator Arena in Ljubljana, Slovenia, with a number of big scores posted by the athletes including one 1400-series, eight 1300-series and three perfect games.

    Austrian national team member Michael Loos (pictured left) led the field of 47 players from nine countries after the first two qualifying squads with 1424 total and an average of 237.22.

    2012EBT06ThomasIvonneGross.jpgLoos came out of the gates quickly in Squad 1 averaging over 250 for the first for games including games of 231, 280, 251 and 256. He closed out his set with 204 and 202 to lead his compatriot Thomas Gross by 31 pins.

    The multiple European Champions Cup winner (pictured right wis wife Ivonne) fired the first 300 game of the tournament in his third game en route to move into second place in the standings with 1393. His wife, Ivonne Gross, rolled the second perfecto just two games later in game five to become the best of six women in the field in sixth place with 1316 including 48 pins handicap, a standard for women on the European Bowling Tour.

    2012EBT05DanielVezis.jpgTwo-handed Latvian Daniel Vezis (left), who won the qualifying of the Croatia Open last week, paced Squad 2 on Tuesday evening with 1393 including the third perfecto of the day. Vezis, a former European Youth Champion, started his series with 227 and 244 before he achieved perfection in game three. He finished with 186, 221 and 215 to land in third place due to the lower last game than Thomas Gross.

    2012EBT06AnzeGrabrijan.jpgPlaces four and five belonged to Alexander Medveditskov of Russia and the top local bowler, Anže Grabrijan (right), who toppled 1377 and 1368 pins in Squad 1.

    Qualifying continues on Wednesday, April 18, with Squad 3 and 4 scheduled for 4 and 8 p.m. local time (CEST).

    2012QAMFOpenLogo_small.jpg The 6th QubicaAMF Open 2012 is the 6th stop of the 2012 European Bowling Tour and the second out of eight EBT "Silver" tournaments this season. The tournament will be held from April 17-22 at 28-lane bowling center Gladiator Arena in Ljubljana, Slovenia and offers total prize fund of 43.300 Euro with 6.000 Euro going to the winner, 3.000 Euro to the runner-up and 2.000 and 1.800 Euro to the third and fourth place finisher, respectively.

    Qualifying of the 6th QubicaAMF Open runs from Tuesday April 17 through Saturday, April 21 with the final qualifying Squad 12 scheduled for 6 p.m. CEST. Qualifying will conclude with the one-game Desperado Squad slated for 9 p.m.

    A total of 40 players will qualify for the finals on Sunday, April 22, including the top 30 players from the overall qualifying standings, the top six players from the combined standings of the first three days (Squads 1-6; Tuesday through Thursday) which are not among the top 30 plus the top 4 players from the Desperado Squad. The top 10 qualifiers will receive two byes, while qualifiers 11-20 will bypass the first round of the finals.

    Each of the four rounds in the finals consists of four games. The field will be trimmed to 30, 20, 10 and then four players. Rounds 1, 2 and 3 start from scratch. The pinfall total from Round 3 will be carried forward into Round 4. In a change for 2012, only the top 4 players based on the highest eight-game total will advance to the stepladder final.

    The one-game playoffs begin Sunday at 5.30 p.m. In the opening match, the No. 4 seed meets No. 3 with the winner taking on No. 2. The winner of that match bowls the top-seeded player for the title, the 6.000 Euro top prize and 100 ranking points.

    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 receives 250 ranking points, the winner of a Gold tournament gets 150, the winner of a Silver tournament such as the QubicaAMF Open 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.

    Photos by Gorazd Kavčič

     


    Related Articles


    6th QubicaAMF Open 2012 kicks off Tuesday at Gladiator Arena in Ljubljana, Slovenia
    2012 EBT Schedule & Champions with Men's and Women's Ranking Winners
    2012 EBT Women's Ranking
    2012 EBT Men's Ranking

     


    Qualifying Standings after Squad 2/12