Norm Duke shoots the 5th 300 game to move into 5th place in Brunswick Euro Challenge

03/13/10

2010 European Bowling Tour #5

Seven players move into top 52; cut for 52nd place is up to 1388 (231.33 avg.)

2010EBT05NormDuke.jpg2010EBT05AnthonyPepe.jpgIn 48th place with 1386 six-game total, 33-time PBA champion and Hall of Famer Norm Duke (pictured left) was in danger to miss the first cut in the Brunswick Euro Challenge at Le Plaza Bowling in Saint Maximin, France.

Duke put on a show in the 18th qualifying squad on Friday night and became the fifth player who has cracked the 1500-bar. Duke checked in with 1515 six-game total, an average of 252.50, en route to move into fifth place in the overall qualifying standings.

Anthony Pepe (right), United States, continued to lead the 428-player field with 1572 (262 avg.). Defending champion Mike Fagan (below left), United States, was second with 1555 and was followed by Osku Palermaa, Finland, and Nico Joris, Belgium, in third and 4th place with 1532 and 1518.

2010EBT05MikeFagan.jpg2010EBT05JensNickel.jpgIn the fourth game, Duke, Jens Nickel (right), Germany; English youngster Raymond Teece and Tobias Karlsson, Sweden, bowled on lanes 25-26 in a front of a steadily increasing crowd as Duke, Nickel and Teece started a strike fest.

Teece bowed out after the front seven leaving the 3-6-10 combination. Duke and Nickel continued to strike until the 10th frame. Duke, finishing first, went off the sheet with three clutch strikes for the fifth 300 game of the tournament.

Nickel struck on with his 10th and 11th ball but the 12th was a light pocket hit and left the 4 pin standing for 299. With the 300 Duke was 272 over (a 200 average) after four games, an average of 268.

2008EBT15JariRatia.jpg2009EBT04MathiasArup.jpgNickel, who has won the Brunswick Euro Challenge in 2005, at that time in Thessalonica, Greece, finished his series with 226 and 235 to move into 32nd place with 1419 (236.50). Teece, who chalked up 255 in game #4 added 266 and 212 to move into 41st place with 1401 (233.50).

Three more players cracked the 1400-bar in Squad 18. Jari Ratia (left), Finland, was close behind Duke with 1490 to jump into 7th place. Also making the top 16 was Mathias Ã…rup (right), who jumped into 12th place with 1461.

Mikael Kanold, Sweden, felled 1407 pins to overtake 36th place. Two-time European Bowling Tour women's ranking champion and two-time defending EBT Masters champion Kamilla Kjeldsen, Denmark, finished with 233, 225 and 244 to move into the 52nd and last spot to advance with 1388.

Qualifying continues on Saturday, the 13th, with Midnight Squad 19, an almost full squad with nearly 50 players.

2010EBT05BECLogo.jpg The Brunswick Euro Challenge will be held from March 5-14, 2010 at 28-laner Le Plaza Bowling in Saint Maximin near Paris, France. The tournament is the fifth event of the 2010 European Bowling Tour and one of the Tour's "Gold" tournaments.

Since the Ankara Open and the Austria Challenge have been cancelled, the 2010 EBT Tour features 2 EBT Platinum tournament (formerly Premier), 6 EBT Gold tournaments (formerly Major), 7 EBT Silver tournaments (formerly Challenger) and 4 EBT Satellite tournaments (new category).

Players will compete for total prize money of 90,000 Euro (currently about US$123,250), which includes special prizes for "Women" and "B Bowlers". The tournament winner will receive the 13.000 Euro top prize.

200910PBA11MikeFagan2_small.jpg2009VOMaiGingeJensen_small.jpg There is also a special side event called "300-Game Pot Play". All players who have paid a 50 Euro entry fee in advance and roll a 300 game during the tournament will determine the winner in a one-ball roll-off at the end of the tournament. The winner is guaranteed a minimum of 2,500 Euro.

2-time PBA champion Mike Fagan (left), United States, is the defending champion. The 29-year-old righthander will be targeting to make his third consecutive BEC title match. Mai Ginge Jensen (right), Denmark, finished third last year to win the women ranking.

ValckeBowling.jpg For the third consecutive year, the 2010 Brunswick Euro Challenge sponsored by Brunswick Bowling will be organized by Brunswick distributor Valcke Bowling.

In addition to sponsoring the event, Brunswick will be conducting seminar and training sessions for bowlers, coaches, center mechanics, center managers and proprietors. Click on the link to view the complete Seminar Schedule (pdf file).

Qualifying will run through Saturday, March 13, with the final qualifying squad 23 scheduled for 8 p.m. and ends with the ultimate one-game Desperado Squad at 11 p.m.

The 2010 Brunswick Euro Challenge will be contested on a 39 feet long sport pattern of medium difficulty (MS Excel file).

A total of 64 players will qualify for the finals on Sunday, March 14. The top 16 players will receive one bye and will seeded 1-16 in Round 2.

The following 48 players will qualify for Round 1:
  • Players positioned 17th-52nd in qualifying
  • the top 6 from a separate standing for the squads 1-5 conducted March 5-7, who are not among the top 52
  • the top 6 from the Desperado Squad.

Those 48 will bowl six games starting from scratch to cut to the top 16, who will meet the top 16 qualifiers in the first match play round. Match play is best-of-three games single-elimination. The No. 1 seed will take on No. 32, No. 2 bowls No. 31, etc.

The field will be cut to 16, 8 and then four, who will determine the champion in a stepladder final.

Eurosport2Logo_mini.jpgThe stepladder finals of the 2010 Brunswick Euro Challenge will be broadcasted live on Eurosport 2 Sunday, March 14 from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. CET. Additional to the live broadcast, Eurosport 2 will air at least two more re-broadcasts in the weeks following the live coverage. Eurosport Asia-Pacific will also run the BEC 2010 final several times.

Due to TV requirements the schedule for Sunday, March 14, was adjusted to the following:
07:45 Final Round 1
11:00 Lane Maintenance
11:30 Final Round 2
14:00 Final Round 3
15:15 Final Round 5
16:30 Lane Maintenance
16: 55 Practice for Stepladder final
17:00-18:25 Final Round 5
18:25 TV Award Ceremony
18:30 300-Game Play Pot roll-off
18:45 Awards Ceremony

BowlingdigitalBanner.gif BowlingdigitalFlavioCuvaBeatGrauwiler_small.jpg Once again Bowlingdigital will cover the event live (commencing Thursday March 11) from Le Plaza Bowling in Saint Maximin with results and updates after each round plus our much-anticipated high definition videos produced by Flavio Cuva and high quality photos by Beat Grauwiler (l-r).

Please use the left menu bar to get more information about format, schedule and prize money.

Click here to review Bowlingdigital's Live Coverage from the 2009 Brunswick Euro Challenge or click here to go straight to the video section. You will find more videos here.

 


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Qualifying Standings after Squad 18


The top 52 plus the top 6 from the first weekend (places 53-58) and the top 6 from the Desperado Squad will advance to the finals.

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