Konsteri leads top 8 men into single-elimination finals in European Champions Cup

10/25/08

2008 ECC

Treff Bowling in Duisburg, Germany (Oct. 20-26, 2006)

2008ECCSamiKonsteri2.jpg Sami Konsteri (pictured left), Finland, finished the 24-game preliminaries in the Men's European Champions Cup in Duisburg, Germany, with a 269 game to lead the top 8 men into the single-elimination best-of-three game finals on Saturday.

2008WYCDominicBarrett_small.jpg Konsteri felled 1808 pins in the third and final 8-game block on dual lane condition (one lane with short, the other with long oil) and a 5403 24-game total, an average of 225.13, to beat out Dominic Barrett (right), England for the No. 1 seed by mere four pins.

The two-time World Youth champion had an 1812 series on Friday to land in second place with 5399 (224.96).

2008ECCThomasGross_small.jpg 2008ECCJeanMarcLebon_small.jpg Third place belonged to Thomas Gross (left) from Austria, who led the block with 1813. Gross totaled 5199 pins (216.63).

Jean-Marc Lebon (right), Belgium, who led the 42-player field from 41 ETBF member federations on the short and on the long oil pattern, slipped to fourth with 5160 (215.00) after averaging 182.63 on the dual condition.

2008ECCMathiasArup_small.jpg 2008ECCAchimGrabowski2_small.jpg Lebon will meet Mathias Årup (left) in the first round of the finals. The Swede had a solid 1667 series Friday and ended in fifth place with 5142 ((214.25).

Playing on his home turf, Treff Bowling proprietor Achim Grabowski (right), finally moved from 12th into the top 8 on the final day of qualifying with a 1788 series. The multiple German Champion closed out his qualifying set with 242 and 258 to jump into 6th place with 5108 (212.83). Grabowski will take on Gross in the Round of 8.

2008ECCSveinRogerOlsen_small.jpg 2007BWCGuyCaminsky_small.jpg Seventh place belonged to Svein Roger Olsen (left), Norway, who checked in with 1653 and 5082 pinfall total (211.75), to set up an opening round match against Barrett.

Rounding out the top 8 was Guy Caminsky (right) from South Africa. The World Tenpin Masters champ beat out François Sacco, France, for the final qualifying spot by 13 pins, 5025 to 5012. Caminsky was in danger to miss the cut due to a 169 final game, while Sacco fired a 257 but fell short. Caminsky meets tournament leader Konsteri in the quarterfinals.

2008ECCLogo_small.jpg 2008ECCTreffBowlingLogo_small.jpg The ECC features the national champions or ranking leaders - one man and one woman per country - of the ETBF member federations plus the defending champions.

All players bowled three 8-game blocks (a total of 24 games) preliminaries over three days: Block 1 on short oil, Block 2 on long oil and Block 3 on short/long oil (left lane short, right lane long).

2008ECCMenFinalists.jpg The top 8 players (pictured left) after the preliminaries qualified for the single-elimination final in best-of-three games format. In each round the highest seeded player will bowl the lowest seeded player 2nd highest vs. the 2nd lowest, etc.) based on the preliminaries.






Men's ECC - Quarterfinal Matchups


#1 Sami Konsteri, Finland vs. #8 Guy Caminsky, South Africa
#2 Dominic Barrett, England vs. #7 Svein Roger Olsen, Norway
#3 Thomas Gross, Austria vs. #6 Achim Grabowski, Germany
#4 Jean-Marc Lebon, Belgium vs. #5 Mathias Årup, Sweden

All Photos Beat Brauwiler.


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ECC Men - Standing after Block 3 (24 games overall)


The top 8 advance to the single-elimination finals.




ECC Men - Block 3 Results (short/long oil)