Long-time Finnish national team member Krista Pöllänen posted a 1464 six-game series including handicap in the third qualifying squad on Monday evening to overtake the lead in the Ebonite Lahti Open in Lahti, Finland. Pöllänen had games of 235, 222, 254, 223, 218 and 264 for 1416 scratch total or an average of 236.00 per game to lead the field of 104 bowlers after the third of 12 qualifying squads. Pasi Uotila jumped into second place with 1427 (237.83). Previous leader Joonas Jehkinen fell to third with 1324. Qualifying continues on Thursday.

Formula One driver Robert Kubica, Poland, came to Austria to compete in the 2008 Columbia 300 Vienna Open. Kubica, who won the Grand Prix du Canada in Montreal and has two second-place finishes and three third-place finishes this year, advanced to the finals eventually finishing in 63rd place. In an interview on Friday morning, the 23-year-old told Bowlingdigital editor Herbert Bickel how he started with bowling, why he prefers to bowl without using his thumb, about comparisons between Formula One and bowling, and why he has little doubt that bowling is a sport. Latest News: Kubica of BMW Sauber finished second in the Grand Prix of Japan at Fuji Speedway.

Former World Games champion and long-time German national team member Patricia Luoto (left) defeated Martin Paulsson, Sweden, 224-201, to win the 6th Columbia 300 Vienna Open Sunday afternoon at Plus Bowling in Vienna, Austria. The wife of former World Champoion Mika Luoto, Finland, became the 10th women to win an European Bowling Tour event and the first who won the title in the Vienna Open. Luoto Pocketed 6.000 Euro for accomplishing the feat and earned 100 points for the European rankings as the Vienna Open is one of the Tour's "majors".

The Vienna Open was the 14th stop of the 2008 European Bowling Tour and one of the Tour's "Major". The VO was held from Sep. 30 - Oct. 5, at Plus Bowling in Vienna, Austria, and drew 278 players from 26 countries. 228 men and 50 women competed for total prize money of 65.630 Euro or about 90,000 dollars. The singles champion received the 6.000 € top prize while the doubles winners split 1.600 €. Enjoy our video of the title match between Patricia Luoto, Germany and Martin Paulsson, Sweden.

Janine Gabel from Germany had games between 194 and 266 Sunday morning at Plus Bowling in Vienna en route to lead the top 24 players from Final Round One into the single-elimination match play portion of the 6th Columbia 300 Vienna Open. As the top 8 qualifiers were seeded 1-8 into the Round of 32, Gabel took the No. 9 seed with 1425 six-game total including 48 pins women's handicap. She will meet No. 24 Lars Tangermann, Germany, in best-of-three games format. Adam Scott, England, took the 24th and final qualifying post with 1243 pinfall total and an average of 207.17. Seeded 32nd Scott will bowl qualifying leader Jason Belmonte from Australia.

The European Tenpin Bowling Federation (ETBF) has announced that the format for the 2nd EBT Masters to be held in Aalborg, Denmark, in 2009 will be changed. In 2009 the tournament will be shortened to two days as the preliminaries will be reduced to three 6-game series with a round robin match play final (of the top 8 men and the top 8 women to determine the champions. The total prize fund of the EBT Masters will be reduced by 4.000 Euro to 36.000 Euro - 18.000 Euro each for men and women.

Bigi Manico (right) and Tanya Petty (left) saved the best for the 17th and last qualifying squad in the 6th Columbia 300 Vienna Open in Austria. Petty had high games of 279, 259, and 247 and low games of 213, 215, and 216 to rocket into third place in the Singles qualifying standings with 1477 six-game total including 48 pins handicap, an average of 238.20 scratch. Manico added 1301 to qualify for the main event on Sunday and to secure the first place in the Doubles competition with 2778 total (223.50 scratch). Jason Belmonte, Australia, won the Singles qualifying with 1517 (252.83). F1 BMW Sauber driver Robert Kubica took the sixth and final spot for tomorrow's final (8am) with a 218 game in the Desperado squad.

During the qualifying of the 6th Columbia Vienna Open we have recorded numerous players at Plus Bowling in Vienna, Austria. It is always interesting to watch the many different styles and the ball reaction the players have. For this video, Swiss camera man Falvio Cuva has used a special camera to record the players in super slow motion. Among those who can be studied are USBC Queens champion Lynda Barnes (left), United States, 3-time World Champion Martin Larsen, Sweden, USBC Silver level coach Thomas Tybl, Austria, and Formula One driver Robert Kubica from Poland.

Stuart Williams (left) from England rolled a 1418 series in the 16th squad to move into the top 8 in the qualifying of the 6th Columbia 300 Vienna Open. The 2006 World Ranking Masters champion, who had two perfect games in last year's event and won the Doubles competition, had games of 279 and 260 on Saturday afternoon at Plus Bowling in Vienna, Austria. Another eight players reached the 1300-plateau and brought the cutoff number for 52nd place to 1283 or an average of 213.83 for six games. Qualifying concludes with Squad 17 at 8pm and the ultimate Desperado Squad. The cut to the tp 52 is currently 1283 (213.83).

No changes atop the leaderboard in the 6th Columbia 300 Vienna Open during the 15th qualifying squad on Saturday afternoon at Plus Bowling in Vienna, Austria. Jason Belmonte (left) from Australia held on to the lead in Singles with 1517 six-game total and an average of 252.83. Defending champion Dennis Eklund, Sweden, remained in second place with 1485 and Chris Vandamme, Belgium, is third with 1427. Mikael Larsson started the 15th out of 17 squads with a 777 3-game series (278, 255 and 244) and closed out the series with 214, 201 and 203, to jump into 8th place with 1395 six-game total and an average of 232.50.

The Columbia 300 Vienna Open, the 14th stop of the 2008 European Bowling Tour and one of the Tour's "Major", will be held from Sep. 30 - Oct. 5, in Vienna, Austria. Among the nearly 300 players from 28 countries is long-time Team USA member Lynda Barnes. Lynda, a former PWBA champion, AMF World Cup champion and U.S. national Amateur champion, has won two major tournaments in the U.S. this year when she captured the USBC Queens title and triumphed in "Bowling's Clash of Champions" winning 80,000 dollars in just two weeks. Lynda took her time to give us an interview before she will bowl in Squad 15.

Dutch national team members Lisanne Breeschoten (left) and Priscilla Maaswinkel (right) set the tone in the 14th squad on Saturday morning to start the final day of qualifying in the 6th Columbia 300 Vienna Open in Austria. Breeschoten led the squad with 1315 pinfall total including 48 pins handicap to move into 27th place in the overall qualifying standings. Qualifying ends on Saturday with Squads three more squads at noon, 4pm and 8pm and concludes with the ultimate Desperado Squad.  

Two members of the German youth national team, Pascal Winterheimer and Lars Tangermann (l-r), ended the penultimate qualifying day in the 6th Columbia 300 Vienna Open Friday night with a bang when the duo finished with 2744 pins en route to overtake the lead in the Double event.  Winterheimer, who started his six-game series with 252, 256 and 265, moved into sixth place in the overall qualifying standings. Jason Belmonte held on to the lead with 1517 (252.83) and is followed by defending champion Dennis Eklund, Sweden, with 1485 and Chris Vandamme, Belgium, with 1427. Qualifying ends on Saturday with Squads four more squads and the ultimate one-game Desperado Squad.

Jason Belmonte (pictured) doesn't like it at all if somebody overtakes him. The Australian lost the qualifying lead in the 6th Columbia 300 Vienna Open during Squad 11 but regained the lead just one squad later. The two-hander had three games over 260 including back-to-back 260s at the end of his six-game block to become the first player in this year's event, who cracked the 1500-bar.  "Belmo" leads the field of 249 players with 1517 pinfall total and an average of 252.83. Defendimg champion Dennis Eklund, Sweden, who posted the first 300-game of the tournament in Squad 11, slipped to second place with 1485.

Defending Singles champion Dennis Eklund (pictured left) from Sweden set the first high light in the qualifying for the 6th Columbia 300 Vienna Open when he rolled the first 300 game of this year's event Friday at Plus Bowling in Vienna, Austria. Eklund started his six-game series with games of 225, 257, 218 and 278 before he achieved perfection in game 5. He closed out his set with 207 to shoot in the lead in Singles with 1485 and an average of 247.50. Jari Ratia from Finland had two 279 games in the fourth and sixth game to help grab the second place with 1425 (237.50). Previous leader Jason Belmonte, Australia, slipped to third with 1412.