The title match of the inaugural Storm English Open at Lakeside Superbowl in Nuneaton, England was an all-English affair. Qualifying leader and No. 1 seed Stuart Williams (pictured) rolled two big games to defeat equally strong Robert Kendall, the No. 7 seed, in the best-of-three games finals, two-games-to-none. Photo: Andy James.

The reigning World Ranking Masters champion won the first match 243-234 and sealed the victory with 242-233 win in match #2. Williams pocketed 4.000 English Pounds (approx. 5.555 Euro) for his second EBT title in 2007 (the first came in Malta), while Kendall received 2.000 English Pounds.

Isabelle Saldjian, France, won her second consecutive women's ranking title.

Stuart Williams (pictured left), England, remained unchallenged on the fourth and final qualifying day in the Storm English Open at Lakeside Superbowl in Nuneaton, England. The reigning World Ranking Masters champion led the 164-player field with 1449 six-game total and an average of 214.50.

Wu Siu Hong (right), Hong Kong, rolled two 250s and three 240s in Squad 14/16 to help grab the second place. The two-time Asian ranking champion, who has won an EBT title in the 2006 Vienna Open, chalked up 1441 pins. Williams and Siu Hong earned four byes and will be seeded into the quarterfinals. Photo: Andy James.

Kirsten Penny, (left) the 2007 European women's rankings champion, and 3-time European men ranking champion (2004-2006) and this year's runner-up Paul Moor, both England, qualified in third and fourth place with 1406 (including 48 pins handicap) and 1400, respectively.

24-time PBA champion and PBA Hall of Famer Brian Voss was fifth with 1398. Dominic Barrett (right) landed in sixth place with 1396. As the players ranked 3rd to 6th earned three byes Barrett will earn enough ranking points to secure a spot for the 2008 World Ranking Masters in Jakarta, Indonesia.

Rounding out the top 10 were 7. Robert Kendall, England, 1393 8. Luke Hampshaw, England, 1382 9. Ghislaine van der Tol (left), Netherlands, 1382 and 10. Zara Glover, England, 1381.

Diana Zavjalova (right), Latvia, hit the cutoff number for 44th place with 1288. Daniel Stride, Paul Stott, Adam Michaels, Ian Hollands, Philip Kargotis, all England, and Xavier Lotthe, France had games between 235 and 263 to advance to the finals through the single-game Desperado Squad.

A total of 50 players, the top 44 players from the qualifying plus the top 6 Desperados advanced to the finals on Sunday, December 9. The top 10 qualifying leaders will automatically be seeded into the single-elimination best-of-three match play portion and depending on the qualifying position can earn up to four byes.

The qualifying winner and the runner-up will bypass the first four rounds and will be seeded into the Round of 8, which means they cannot fall lower than fifth and sixth, respectively. Players ranked 3rd to 6th in qualifying will advance to the Round of 16, while players ranked 7th to 10th will be seeded into the Round of 32.

The other 40 players (players seeded 11th to 46 and the four Desperados) will play 6 games starting from scratch on Sunday morning. The top 24 will continue will play another 3 games with the pinfall from the first round being carried forward.

The top 12 will advance to the single-elimination finals. All rounds including the title match are best-of-three games single elimination with highest seeded player meeting the lowest seeded player, etc.

The top 10 qualifying leaders will be seeded 1-10, while the 12 survivors from final rounds 1 and 2 will be seeded 11-22.

The two remaining players will bowl for the title and the 4.000 English Pounds (approx. 5.555 Euro) and 50 ranking points.

The Storm English Open is an EBT Challenger tournament. Originally scheduled to be the 20th and penultimate ranking event on the 2007 European Bowling Tour, the EBT newcomer has become the 18th and final event of this year's Tour after the cancellation of the Danish Masters (Denmark), the Viernheim Open (Germany) and the Kungsbacka International (Sweden).