James Gruffman dominates first round of men's qualifying at the ECC in Holland

    10/18/12

    2012 ECC

    Swede shoots first 300 game en route to take a 92-pin lead after eight games on short oil; seven players of Squad B including leader Gery Verbruggen move into top 8

    2012ECCJamesGruffman3.jpg

    2012ECCGeryVerbruggen.jpgJames Gruffman (pictured left) led the men's qualifying in the European Champions Cup after the first qualifying round with 1927 pinfall total and an average of 240.88. The Swede, who fired the first 300 game of the Cup in Squad A on Wednesday evening at bowling center Dekker in Zoetermeer, Netherlands, remained unchallenged in Squad B on Thursday morning.

    Trailing Gruffman by 92 pins to sit in second place was former World and European champion Gery Verbruggen (right) of Belgium, who led Squad B with 1835 (229.38) including high games of 266, 261 and 255.

    2012ECCMadsSandbakken.jpg2012ECCItaly2MauroRampi.jpgThe next six players of Squad B moved into third through eighth place in the overall standings. European champion Mads Sandbækken (left) of Norway used back-to-back 256 games another 255 to sit in third place with 1808. The top three players are lefties.

    Next were Yoan Alix of France and Habib Dogan of Turkey, who tied at 1766. Mauro Rampi (right) of Italy, also left-handed, started his series with 288 and finished with 1740, good for sixth place overall. Yavor Milanov of Bulgaria was in seventh place with 1687. Rounding out the top 8 was Raymond Teece of England with 1687 or an average of 210.88.

    Mark McQueen of Scotland (1682) and defending champion Thomas Gross of Austria (1662), who were second and third in Squad A, slipped to ninth and tenth. The men are done for today and will return on Friday for the second block on long oil (40 ft.).

     




    2012ECCLogo.jpg The European Champions Cup 2012 takes place at bowling center Dekker, a 16-laner with Funk equipment in the city of Zoetermeer, just 15 km East of The Hague, Netherlands.

    Starting on Wednesday, Oct. 17, 42 men from 41 countries and 36 women from 35 countries roll three eight-game blocks of qualifying over four days, the first block on short oil (35 ft.), the second block on long oil (40ft.) and the third block on combined oil (one lane dressed with short oil, the other lane dressed with long oil).

    The top eight men and the top eight women after 24 games advance to the single-elimination finals in best-of-three games format. The player, who wins all three matches, will be declared the champion.

     


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    2012 European Champions Cup - Men's Qualifying after 8/24 games


    First block on short oil (35 ft.), second block on long oil (40ft.) and third block on combined oil.