Tournament leader
Nick Froggatt, England, defeated
Tony Fransson, Sweden, in the title match of the inaugural Maribor Open Strike Tournament, 227-207, en route to win the title and the 8.000 Euro top prize. Fransson, the No. 4 seed, ousted two compatriots on his way to the title match. In the opening match, Franssen defeated
Martin Larsen, 217-205, then eliminated No. 2 seeded
Erik Andersin in the semi-final, 228-223.
The 2nd Maribor Open is on the schedule for the 2008 European Bowling Tour and will be held September 6-14, 2008.
England's Nick Froggatt earned the No. 1 seed for the Live TV Finals in the 1st Maribor Open Strike Tournament at Strike Bowling Center in Maribor, Slovenia. Three Swedes, Erik Andersin (right), qualifying winner Martin Larsen (left) and Tony Fransson will battle it out for he right to bowl Froggatt for the title. The four-player stepladder finals will be broadcasted live on Slovenian television in a two-hour show airing at 6 p.m. local time (GMT +1) from Strike Bowling Center. 
Nick Froggatt (left) from England rolled games of 257, 222 and 247 to move up one spot and to overtake the lead in the 1st Maribor Open Strike Tournament after Final Round Four at Strike Bowling Center in Maribor, Slovenia. The lefty averaged 241.17 over the last six games and felled 1447 pins. Luca Osella started the round with the tournament's second 300 game but missed the cut by 29 pins. The top 8 players advanced to the next round and will bowl another three games to cut to the top 4 for the Live TV stepladder finals starting at 6 p.m. 
The field is down to 16 in the 1st Maribor Open Strike Tournament at Strike Bowling Center in Maribor, Slovenia. From now on the pinfall will be carried forward until the top four players for the Live TV Finals will be determined. World Ranking Masters champion Stuart Williams (on the right), England, finished the third round with 280 to jump to the top of the leaderboard with 723 three-game total and an average of 241. His compatriot Nick Froggatt (left) is mere two pins behind in second place with 721. 
Multiple Austrian champion Thomas Gross (left), rolled a 732 three-game series in Final Round Two, the highest series of the day thus far in the finals of the 1st Maribor Open Strike Tournament in Slovenia. Gross had back-to-back 250s and finished with 217 to lead Mathias Årup (right) by one pin. The Swede started with 279-255 and closed out his series with 197 for 731. 
Erik Andersin (left); Sweden, posted the highest three-game series in Final Round One in the 1st Maribor Open Strike Tournament with 728 pinfall total, an average of 242.66, to lead the top 14 players into the next round. Local bowler Tamaz Krizaj, 64, delighted his friends when he advanced in second position with 684. Third place belonged to the sole woman in the final, Ivonne Gross, Austria, with 683. 
Uwe Tscharke (l.) from Germany flirted with perfection in qualifying squad 24 in the Maribor Open, firing 11 strikes to start his six-game series Saturday morning before finishing with a 297 game. His 1427 total propelled him into sixth place in the overall standings. Gianluca Badali (r.), Italy, missed the 1400-plateau by one pin to move into 7th place with 1399. With two more squads to go, Swede Martin Larsen continued to lead the field with 1512 series and an average of 252.00. 
Swiss youngster Mathieu Berges (l.) had games of 224, 243, 224, 233, 204 and 193 to lead qualifying squad 22 in the Maribor Open on Friday evening with 1321 six-game total and an average of 220.17. Berges had the highest official pinfall total but wasn't the best player in this squad. Dirk Völkel (r.), who served as a pacer, used high games of 299 and 279 for a 1407 series, a 234.5 average. However, the German remained in 24th place with a 1312 series.