Thomas Tybl and Thomas Gross (l-r) from Austria, who won the gold medal in Doubles at the 2007 European Championships, took the lead in the 1st Maribor Open Strike Tournament after Day Two qualifying.

Tybl had games of 233, 220, 278, 260, 205 and 235 to become the first player who reached the 1400-plateau with 1431 six-game total and an average of 238.50. Gross, who led after Day One, is 101 pins behind in second place with 1330. His wife Ivonne Gross (right) is third with 1325 including 48 pins handicap.

Rounding out the top 5 are Helmut Peinelt and Dirk Völkel, Germany, with 1313 and 1312 pinfall total. 11. Jan Petan is the top-ranked local bowler in 11th place with 1245.

The Maribor Open, which will be part of the 2008 European Bowling Tour, takes place at Strike Bowling Center in Maribor, Slovenia. Qualifying will continue through Saturday September 15 and will conclude with the Desperado Squad at 11.30 p.m.

The top 52 plus the top 4 "Desperados" will qualify for the finals on Sunday, September 16. The top 14 qualifiers will receive two byes, while qualifiers 15-28 will bypass the first round.

The Maribor Open offers total prize money of 73.000 Euro or approximately 100,000 U.S. Dollar. Men and women will compete in the same division with women receiving 8 pins handicap, the same as on the European Bowling Tour.

The winner will receive the 8.000 Euro top prize (approx. $11,000). The general tax in Slovenia is 25 per cent and will be automatically deducted from the prize money of each foreigner.