Sandbækken and Banks earn No. 1 seed for single-elimination finals in European Champions Cup

World Youth Masters champion Mads Sandbækken, Norway, was third after 8 games, second after 16 games and finished atop the leader board after 24 games of qualifying.

The shooting star of the year 2006 had three consistent 8-game series on long (1787) and short oil (1759) and on dual lane condition (1797) to lead the field with 5343 pinfall total and an average of 222,63.

Sandbækken takes on Finland's two-hander Osku Palermaa in the first round of the best-of-three games single-elimination match play finals. Palermaa finished in 8th place with 4908 (204,50).

Israel's Or Aviram (left) posted the 1825 high score today, a 228,13 average, to move up two spots into second place with 5291 pinfall total. The 2005 World Cup runner-up meets Greek veteran Dimitrios Karetsos (right) who was seventh with 5002.

Dominic Barrett (left), England, who led after day two slipped to third place with 5233. The English ranking champion takes on sixth placed Philippe Huber, Switzerland (5019).

Rounding out the top 8 were defending champion and former 3-time World Champion Anders Öhman, Sweden (4th, 5098) and multiple Austrian champion Thomas Gross (5th, 5059, right).

Day one leader Fiona Banks, England, averaged 226,25 over the final day of qualifying to regain the lead in the women's division and to earn the No. 1 seed for the best-of-three games single-elimination match play finals.

The two-time European Champion posted an 1810 eight-game total on the 'mixed oil' condition (one lane dressed with short oil, the other with long oil) for an overall pinfall of 5127, an average of 213,63 for 24 games.

Trailing Banks by 40 pins to sit in second place was Germany's Tanya Petty, who has reached the championship match in the last four years, winning the title in 2002, 2004 and 2005. The only loss came in 2003 in Vienna against Heta Allen from Finland. Petty checked in with 5087.



Third place belonged to yesterday's leader Ghislaine van der Tol (left), Netherlands, who finished third with 5077 after a 1697-series today. Next were Heidi Thorstensen, Norway (4th, 4814), Olga Tarasova (right), Ukraine (5th, 4783), Annika Kilander, Sweden (6th, 4779) and Patricia Klug, Austria (7th, 4765).

Natassa Rovithaki from Greece, closed out the qualifying with a 226-game to beat out Marylin Planchard (193) from France and Kirsten Horemans (181) from Belgium for the eighth and final spot to advance by four pins. Rovithaki totaled 4724, an average of 196,83, while Planchard and Horemans were deadlocked at 4720 total pins.

Pictures courtesy of Helmut Amstätter.