Mika Koivuniemi achieves perfection on his way to the pole position in Vienna

10/01/10

2010 European Bowling Tour #15

No changes atop the Doubles leaderboard

2010EBT15MikaKoivuniemi.jpg2010EBT15MartinLarsen.jpg8-time PBA champion Mika Koivuniemi (pictured left),, Finland, rolled the second perfecto of the 8th Columbia 300 Vienna Open en route to overtake the pole position in Singles qualifying Thursday night at Plus Bowling in Vienna, Austria.

The 2003-04 PBA Player of the Year started his six-game series with games of 214 and 224 before rattling off 12 consecutive strikes. "The Big Finn" added 239, 248 and 224 to overtake Squad 8 leaders Martin Larsen (right), Sweden, and Koivuniemi's fellow PBA champion Sean Rash, United States, by just two pins with 1449 and an average of 241.50.

Larsen and Rash slipped to second and third place with 1447 each. Mik Stampe , Denmark, was fourth with 1428. and was followed by Stuart Williams, England, in 5th place with 1394. Defending Vienna Open champion Thomas Gross, Austria, sits in 6th place with 1385 with two-hander Osku Palermaa, Finland, in 7th place with 1384.

2010EBT15NickiAingeNinaFlack.jpg2010EBT15MartinLarsenOskuPalermaa.jpgEngland's Darren Cundy used high games of 277 and 267 to jump into 8th place with 1382. 2008 European Bowling Tour women's ranking champion Nina Flack (left photo, on the right rightw with Doubles partner, Nicki Ainge, England) as third in Squad 9 with 1353 including 48 pins handicap. Flack is now the top-ranked women in the field in 14th position.

The cut for 52nd place improved by another 16 pins. With 248 players in the books, Tom Jakob, Germany, is the "man on the bubble" with 1242 or an average of 207.00.

2010EBT15ToreTorgesernMathiasArup.jpg2010EBT15SeanRashLyndaBarnes.jpgLarsen and Palermaa  (above right, l-r) held on to the lead in Doubles with 2789 pinfall total. Rash and Lynda Barnes (pictured left), United States were second with 2754. Torgersen Tore, Norway, and Mathias Årup, Sweden, (right, l-r) were third 2749. Places 4-9 also remained unchanged.

Cundy and compatriot Rob Thurlby, who won the Brunswick Euro Challenge earlier in March, were the top duo in Squad 9 with 2632, good for 10th place overall. The top 20 Doubles at the end of the finals will cash. No finals will be played.

Qualifying continues on Friday with Squad 10-13 scheduled for 9am, 1pm, 5pm and 9pm CET.

Bowlingdigital's Facebook account was updated with the first photo album. To view the photos, click here

2010VOLogo.jpg The 8th Columbia 300 Vienna Open is the 15th stop of the 2010 European Bowling Tour and one of the Tour's "Gold" events. The tournament will be held from Tuesday Sept. 28 through Sunday Oct. 3, 2010 at 32-lane Plus Bowling in Vienna, Austria.

Since the Ankara Open and the Austria Challenge have been cancelled and the English Open has lost its EBT status, the 2010 EBT Tour consists of 18 events - 2 EBT Platinum tournament (formerly Premier), 6 EBT Gold tournaments (formerly Major), 6 EBT Silver tournaments (formerly Challenger) and 4 EBT Satellite tournaments (new category).

200910PBA18PeteWeber5.jpg2010EBT15ChrisBarnes.jpg More than 300 players from 26 countries including PBA stars Pete Weber (left), Chris Barnes (right), Mika Koivuniemi and Sean Rash will compete for an increased total prize money of 70.630 Euro - 60.400 € in Singles and 10.230 € in Doubles. The singles champion will receive the 7.000 Euro top prize while the doubles winners will split 1.600.

Once again the qualifying for the Vienna Open finals is contested as a doubles tournament. Each duo rolls at least one six-game block. Unlimited re-entries with different partners are possible but each player can only cash once with the same partner.

2009VOClaraGuerreroStuartWilliams.jpg The team with the highest total pinfall including handicap will be declared the winner (no finals will be played). The top 20 doubles will cash. Pictured right: Clara Juliana Guerrero, Colombia, and Stuart Williams, England, won the Doubles competition in 2009.

Qualifying runs from Tuesday through Saturday and ends with the ultimate one-game Desperado Squad on Saturday night Oct. 2 slated for 11.30 pm local time (GMT +1). 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. 3:
  • 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.


2010EBT15OilPattern.jpg The top 8 qualifying leaders will bypass the first round of the finals.

The other 52 players will bowl 6 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 6 games starting from scratch after which the field will be trimmed to the top 18, who will carry their pinfall forward into Round Three. After another 6-game block the top 4 with the highest 12-game total will advance to the stepladder finals.

The No. 4 seed meets the No. 3 in the opening match and the winner takes on the No. 2 seed for the right to bowl the top seed for the title, 150 ranking points and the 7.000 Euro top prize.

Tournament Format
Schedule
Prize Fund

2009VOThomasGross-7_small.jpg2009VOBrittBrondsted_small.jpg In the 2009 title match, hometown favorite Thomas Gross (pictured left) defeated tournament leader Stuart Williams, England, in a high scoring encounter, 246-231, en route to become the first Austrian winner in the Columbia 300 Vienna Open. Britt Brøndsted (right), Denmark, was the best female bowler in 10th place to win the women's ranking. Review the live streaming of the stepladder finals here.

Click here to review Bowlingdigital's Live Coverage from the 2009 Columbia 300 Vienna Open
or click here to go straight to the 2009 VO Video Section.

BowlingdigitalBanner.gif BowlingdigitalFlavioCuvaBeatGrauwiler_small.jpg Since the inaugural Vienna Open in the year 2003, Bowlingdigital covers the event live from Plus Bowling with stories and results after each round commencing Monday Sept. 27 all the way through to the finals on Sunday Oct. 3.

Once again, our Swiss friends Flavio Cuva (left) and Beat Grauwiler (right) will be on hand to support the Live Coverage with our much-anticipated high definition videos and photos.

USBCCommentatorLucasWiseman_small.jpg Defending fifth-place Desperado Squad advancer from last year, Lucas Wiseman (pictured left) of USBC Communications, will also return and fill in as play-by-play announcer.

Bowlingdigital will be providing free Live Streaming of the four-player stepladder finals on Sunday, Oct. 3rd starting at 5pm CET. We are also planning to provide live streaming broadcasts of portions of the qualifying and the final rounds prior to the stepladder.

 


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Stampe, Larsen, Rash move to the top in 8th Columbia 300 Vienna Open
Alexander Rauscher leads Squad 6 and advances to Vienna Open finals
Local favorite Thomas Tybl wins Squad 5 at 8th Columbia 300 Vienna Open
Israel's Or Aviram, Gal Shemer move to the top in Doubles at Vienna Open
Defending Vienna Open champion Thomas Gross in familiar position after Day One
Katerina Bestova shoots into lead in Singles at 8th Columbia 300 Vienna Open
Anton Stiel takes the early lead in Vienna Open Singles Qualifying
9-pin no-tap tournament Tournament kicks off 8th Columbia 300 Vienna Open
Live Coverage from the 8th Columbia 300 Vienna Open

 


2010 Vienna Open Singles - Squad 9 Results



 


2010 Vienna Open Doubles - Squad 9 Results



 


Singles Qualifying - Standings after Squad 9 of 17

 


Doubles - Standings after Squad 9 of 17

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