Hans Flaton is the surprise winner of Squad 2 to earn berth into Vienna Open finals

    10/03/12

    2012 EBT #16 / 2012 WBT #11

    Beats out Robert Andersson, Sean Rash, Daniel Vezis for the top spot; Leo Grundschober holds on to the lead with 1316; early cut for 52nd place is 1049 (174.83 average)

    2012EBT16HansFlaton.jpg2012EBT16LeoGrundschober.jpgHans Flaton (pictured left) of Austria closed out his six-game series with a big 243 game en route to become the surprise winner of the second qualifying squad of the 10th Columbia 300 Vienna Open at Plus Bowling in Vienna, Austria.

    Flaton, who started his set with games of 223, 188, 203, 182 and 205, totaled 1244 pins, an average of 207.33, earned an automatic berth into Sunday's finals. He moved into fourth place in the overall qualifying standings.

    Squad 1 leader, Leo Grundschober (right) of Austria, held on to the lead with 1316 (219.33) and was followed by compatriot Daniel Hahn in second place with 1310 and Zoltan Skobrics of Hungary in third with 1250.

    2012EBT16JennyWegner.jpg2012EBT16DanielVezis.jpgPlus Bowling manager Thomas Tybl, a USBC silver coach, slipped to fifth place with 1244 due to the lower last game than Flaton. Jenny Wegner (left) of Sweden was the best of 13 women so far in sixth place with 1244 including 48 pins handicap.

    Former World Champion Robert Andersson of Sweden was six pins behind Flaton in Squad 2 with 1238, good for seventh place overall. Reigning PBA Player of the Year, Sean Rash, United States, toppled 1231 pins to sit in ninth place. Daniel Vezis (right) of England, runner-up in the EBT's Chandra Open two days ago, chalked up 1216 to move into 10th place.

    2012EBT16JennyCasjaWegner.jpgWith 81 players in the books, Karl Fröschl of Austria held the 52nd and last place to advance with 1049 and an average of 174.83.

    Jenny and Casja Wegner (right) remained in the lead in Doubles with 2460 including 96 pins handicap. Jenny teamed with Sean Rash in Squad 2 to tie Tybl & Andersson at 2446. Rash & Wegner had to settle for third place due to the lower last game.

    Qualifying continues on Tuesday with Squad 3 schedule for 8 p.m. CEST.

    2012VOLogo.jpg The 10th Columbia 300 Vienna Open is the 16th stop of the 2012 European Bowling Tour and the last of four EBT "Gold" tournaments (the second-highest category) this season. Players will compete for an increased total prize fund of 75.130 Euro (approx. $100,000) - 64.900 € for Singles and 10.230 € for the Doubles event.

    The singles champion will receive the 7.000 € top prize, the runner-up earns 5.000 and the third and fourth-place finishers get 3.500 and 2.500 Euro, respectively. The doubles champions will split 1.600 €.

    The 10th Columbia 300 Vienna Open will also award a PBA Tour title if won by a PBA member or a PBA international member.

    The qualifying of the Vienna Open is traditionally contested as a Doubles tournamentwhich runs from Tuesday, Oct. 2 through Saturday, Oct. 6 with the final Squad 17 starting at 8 p.m. local time (CEST). Qualifying concludes with the one-game Desperado Squad slated for 11.30 p.m. Women receive 8 pins handicap each game, a standard on the European Bowling Tour

    A total of 64 players will qualify for the Vienna Open finals on Sunday, Oct. 7:
    • the top 52 players from the overall qualifying standings
    • the first player each from Squad 1-6, who is not among the top 52 (total 6 players)
    • and the top 6 from the Desperado Squad.

    The top 8 qualifying leaders will bypass the first round of the finals. The other 56 players will bowl six games starting from scratch to cut to the top 22, who will join the top qualifiers in Round Two.

    Those 30 players will bowl another six games starting from scratch after which the field will be trimmed to the top 18, who will carry the pinfall forward into Round Three. After another six-game block the top 4 players with the highest 12-game total will advance to the stepladder finals.

     


    BowlingdigitalBanner.gif For the 10th year in a row, Bowlingdigital will cover the Columbia 300 Vienna Open live from Plus Bowling in Vienna with stories and results after each round including live streaming, high definition videos and high quality photos.

    Live streaming of the 10th Columbia 300 Vienna Open will go online Friday morning, Oct. 5, during qualifying squad 10 and will continue for the rest of the qualifying and all rounds of the finals.

    Bowling fans around the world will be able to watch the stepladder finals on Sunday, Oct. 7 at 5 p.m. CEST (11.00 a.m. EDT; 11.00 p.m. Hong Kong Time) live on Bowlingdigital TV. The award ceremonies are scheduled for 6.00 p.m. CET. The live streaming coverage is a partnership between Bowlingdigital.com, Austrian Bowling Federation, Plus Bowling, Columbia 300 and Ottakringer, the official beer of the Vienna Open.

     


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    2012 Vienna Open - Singles Qualifying Standings after Squad 2/17


    Squad 2 Results

     

     


    2012 Vienna Open - Doubles Standings after Squad 2/17


    Squad 2 Results

     

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