Osku Palermaa continues to lead qualifying in 41st Brunswick Ballmaster Open

    01/07/11

    2011 European Bowling Tour #1

    Lehtonen, Dorin-Ballard, Tonteri lead squads 7-9 on Thursday; cut for 44th place 1288

    201011PBA03OskuPalermaa2.jpg2010ECCKristaPollanen2.jpgFinnish standout Osku Palermaa (pictured left) continued to lead the qualifying of the 41st Brunswick Ballmaster Open for the fifth consecutive day at Tali Bowl in Helsinki, Finland.

    The two-hander, who has won his first PBA title in the PBA World Series of Bowling GEICO Shark Championship, had a 1467 six-game series on Jan. 1st to lead the field of now 297 players from 14 countries with an average of 244.50. Palermaa had games of 203, 236, 243, 269, 257 and 259.

    Reigning World Games champion Krista Pöllänen (right), Finland, is the best of 43 women and one of just three in the top 44 in second place with 1412 including 48 pins handicap. World and World Ranking Masters champion Gery Verbruggen is the sole non-Finnish player in the top 10. The lefty from Belgium, who has won the European Bowling Tour men's ranking in the first four years of the Tour (2000-'03), knocked down 1411 pins.

    Places 4-6 belong to three-time Ballmaster Open champion Pasi Uotila, Perttu Jussila and Teppo Ryhänen with 1410, 1408 and 1406, respectively.

    2011EBT01PetriLehtonen.jpg2010BWCCarolynDorinBallard.jpgPetri Lehtonen (left) led Squad 7 and Thursday's qualifying with 1396 pinfall total, an average of 232.67, to jump into seventh place in the overall qualifying standings. Lehtonen had games of 235, 247, 266, 189, 267 and 192.

    Rounding out the top 10 are Jouni Helminen (1393), Jesse Lindholm (1377) and Mika Heino, who had the higher last game than 11th place Kari Hurri (both 1368).

    Qualifying Squad 8 on Thursday afternoon was dominated by U.S. bowlers. 20-time Professional Women's Bowling Association titlist and Team USA member Carolyn Dorin-Ballard (right) rolled games of 248, 214, 231, 234, 180 and 212 for 1319 scratch (219.53) and added 48 pins handicap to lead the squad with 1367, good for 12th place overall.

    201011PBAChrisLoschetter.jpg201011PBASeanRash.jpgPBA exempt player Chris Loschetter (left) was next with 1333 including back-to-back 250s to leap into 21st place. Fellow PBAer Sean Rash (right), a four-time PBA champion and USBC Master winner, was mere two pins behind with 1331 including a high game of 279 to overtake 22nd place.

    Juhani Tonteri, Finland started the 9th qualifying squad on Thursday evening with 706 after three games (217, 256 and 233) but managed only 614 pins for the least three games (203, 185 and 226) to settle for 25th place with 1320 (220 ave.). England's Raymond Teece was second in this squad with 1316 to move into 28th place.

    With another seven squads to go, Sami Salin, Finland, holds the 44th and last place to advance with 1288 or an average of 214.67. Qualifying continues on Friday, Jam. 7 with Squads 10-12 at 11 a.m., 3 and 7 p.m. local time (CET -1).

    2010BallmasterOpenBanner.jpg The 41st Brunswick Ballmaster Open kicks off the 2011 European Bowling Tour and is the first of six "EBT Gold" events in the 2011 season. The tournament will be held from Saturday Jan. 1 through Sunday Jan. 9, 2010 at 36-lane Tali Bowl in Finland's capital city Helsinki.

    The Ballmaster is also the first of five tournaments of the inaugural World Bowling Tour organized by the World Tenpin Bowling Association for 2011.

    Players compete for total prize money of 90.000 Euro with 12.000 Euro going to the winner, 8.000 to the runner-up and 4.000 and 3.000 to third and fourth place finishers, respectively.

    Since the inception of the European Bowling Tour in the year 2000, the Ballmaster has been the season-opening event of the Tour. Heading into its 12th season the 2011 EBT will feature 22 tournaments - 2 Platinum, 6 Gold, 7 Silver and 7 Satellite - in 17 countries, three in Denmark, two each in Finland and Spain and one each in Austria, England, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Qatar, Russia, San Marino, Slovakia, Slovenia and Turkey. The total prize fund of the 2011 Tour exceeds 1.1 million Euro.

    201011PBAMikaKoivuniemi.jpg2010AGCherieTan.jpg The first edition of the Ballmaster Open back in 1971 was won by legendary Austrian player and coach, Josef Wiener. The "Big Finn", PBA champion Mika Koivuniemi (pictured left) is the defending champion. Cherie Tan (right), Singapore has won the women's ranking in 2010.

    Finnish bowlers will do their utmost to extend their winning streak as Finns have won the Ballmaster in each of the last 14 years. The last non-Finnish winner was Tore Torgersen, Norway, back in 1996.

    Among the players who have registered for the prestigious event are several U.S. professionals. Joining PBA champions Koivuniemi and Osku Palermaa, Finland, and PBA exempt player Stuart Williams, England are Brunswick pro staffers Sean Rash, Ronnie Russel, Tom Smallwood, Chris Loschetter and Carolyn Dorin-Ballard as well as 2007-08 PBA Player of the Year Chris Barnes.

    Qualifying runs through Saturday, Jan. 8, and ends with Squad 16 and the ultimate one-game Desperado Squad slated for 11.30 p.m. local time (CET +2) on Saturday night. Women will receive 8 pins handicap each game, a standard for women on the European Bowling Tour.

    A total of 48 players - the top 44 from the overall qualifying standings plus the top 4 from the Desperado Squad - will qualify for the finals on Sunday, Jan. 9. No byes will be given in this tournament.

    The finals are similar to the old PBA format. All 48 finalists will bowl 8 games starting from scratch to cut to the top 16 who will advance to the match play portion with the pinfall of Round 1 being carried forward

    Those 16 will bowl 15 games of round robin match play plus one game position round. Players earn 30 bonus pins for each match won and 15 points for a tied match. The top 4 players after 24 games including bonus will determine the champion in a traditional stepladder final.

    The No. 4 seed will start the show against the No. 3 seed in the opening match and the winner takes on the No. 2 seed for the right to bowl the top seed for the title, the 12.000 Euro top prize and 150 ranking points.

    The top 50 men and the top 50 women in each tournament of the 2011 European Bowling Tour will cash ranking points no matter from which country or World Tenpin Bowling Association Zone (Europe, Asia, America) he or she comes.

    The 2011 Brunswick Ballmaster Open champion and the women's ranking leader will automatically take over the lead in the 2011 EBT men's and women's ranking.

    The top 16 men and the top 16 women at the end of the 2011 EBT season will qualify for the 2012 EBT Masters to be held in conjunction with the 3rd Dream Bowl Palace Open in Unterföhring near Munich, Germany April 30 and May 1, 2012.

     


    Related Articles


    No changes atop the Ballmaster leaderboard in "Senior" Squad 6 on Wednesday
    Finns Ryhänen, Hurri move into the top 10 in Ballmaster Open qualifying on Tuesday
    Pöllänen, Verbruggen, Uotila crack the 1400-bar in Brunswick Ballmaster Open
    Osku Palermaa leads 41st Brunswick Ballmaster Open after Day One Qualifying
    2011 European Bowling Tour season to start with 41st Brunswick Ballmaster Open

     


    2011 Brunswick Ballmaster Open - Qualifying Standings after Squad 9/16

    Â