Larsen moves into fourth in penultimate qualifying squad in Vienna

Martin Larsen from Sweden felled 1429 pins in the 13th and penultimate qualifying squad to leap two spots into fourth place in the 4th Vienna Open powered by Columbia 300. The Swedes, who leads the Doubles event with team mate and co-World Champion in Doubles, Robert Andersson, started his six-game block with 266, 267 and 266 (799) and finished with 212, 208 and 210, an average of 238.17.

Larsen teamed with Wu Siu Hong (right) in the squad, but Hong Kong's No. 1 didn't came close to the 1481 six-game total that propelled him into the lead in Singles two days ago. Siu Hong added 1239 for 2668 pinfall total - the second-highest of the squad - to help grab the team the ninth place in the doubles standings.

Defending champion Osku Palermaa (left), who is currently in third place in Singles with 1430, teamed with compatriot Mika Luoto in Squad 13. Palermaa rolled 1363 and Luoto, the 2003 World Champion in Singles, had 1334 to overtake the seventh position in Doubles with 2697.

Former U.S. National Amateur Champion Andrew Cain (right) remained in second place with 1438. Achim Grabowski, Germany, silver medalist in the Masters competition at the Men's Worlds in Korea is fifth with 1415. Andersson is sixth at 1406, with Thomas Gross, Austria and Mathieu Berges (left) , Switzerland, in seventh and eighth, both with 1400. Berges shot the tournament high game of 299 thus far in Squad 13.

The qualifying for the Vienna Open finals is contested as a doubles tournament. All players roll six-game blocks and no finals will be played. A bowler can only cash once with the same partner. Unlimited re-entries with different partners are possible. The winners of the Doubles event will split 1.600 Euro ($2,002). The top 20 teams will cash.

The qualifying continues with the 14th and final squad and ends around Midnight with the ultimate chance to qualify for the final on Sunday - the one-game 'Desperado Squad'.

A total of 68 players will advance to the finals starting on Sunday, October 22 at 8am:
- The top eight players with the highest six-game blocks will earn one bye and will be seeded 1-8 in the match play Round of 32.
- Players positioned 9-56 after qualifying,
- the leaders of Squad 1 through 6 not among the top 56,
- and the top 6 from the Desperado Squad.

All but the top 8 qualifiers will bowl 6 games starting from scratch to cut to the top 24. Those 24 will be seeded 9-32 in the play Round of 32.

Match Play Rounds of 32, 16 and 8 are in a best-of-three games format, highest seeded player vs. the lowest seeded player, the second-highest seeded player vs. the second-lowest seeded player, etc.

The semi-finals and the championship match will be decided in one game. The Vienna Open champion will receive the 7.000 Euro top prize (approx. $8,758).

As every year, lane maintenance is done by Kegel, the official lane maintenance partner of the European Tenpin Bowling Federation. 2005 USBC Open Singles and All Events Champion John Janawicz is the Kegel lane man in Vienna for the third consecutive year.