Bowlingdigital has covered the European Bowling Tour since the very first tournament, the 2000 Ballmaster Open in Finland, but we cannot remember any qualifying squad - at least not on the final weekend - in which no player managed a 200 average. That happened tonight in the 8 p.m. squad of the Brunswick Euro Challenge at Plaza Bowling in Saint Maximin, France.

Squad 17 leader Helene Fischbach from Sweden was the sole of 52 players with a 1200-plus total but only due to receiving 48 pins handicap, a standard on the European Bowling Tour. Fischbach, who averaged 194.17, started with a huge 245 game but after four consecutive games under 200 and a 202 final game the Swede finished with 1213 pinfall total, good for 88th place in the overall qualifying standings.

None of the other players cracked the top 100. Dutch national team member Nicole Sanders, Netherlands, was second with 1195, also including handicap, to land in 104th place. Laurent Quittelier, France tied Sanders at 1195 but was seeded 105th due to Sanders' higher last game, 164 to 163.

Martin Larsen (pictured left), 3-time world champion from Sweden, leads the field of 370 players from 36 countries into the final day of qualifying with 1448 pinfall total and an average of 241.33.

Jason Belmonte, the two-hander from Down Under is second with 1398, while PBA champions Mike Fagan and Sean Rash sit in third and fourth with 1390 and 1383.

Missy Bellinder, all United States, is the top-ranked woman with 1348.

Mika Heino, Finland, holds the coveted 16th place (the top 16 earn one bye fort he finals) and Marcus Berndt, Sweden, was more than surprised to hear that he is still the "man on the bubble" in 52nd place (last place to advance) with 1245 or an average of 207.50.


To view more pictures from the 2008 Brunswick Euro Challenge
go to Bowlingdigital's Photo Album .

The Brunswick Euro Challenge is the fifth stop on the 2008 European Bowling Tour and one of the Tour's "majors". The BEC offers total prize fund of 90,000 Euros (currently approx. $136,500) and offers special prizes that will be given in categories such as youth encouragement, "B" bowlers and ladies.

The 2008 Brunswick Euro Challenge sponsored by Brunswick Bowling is organized by Brunswick distributor Valcke Bowling.

Qualifying continues Friday with the "Midnight Squad" and ends on Saturday, March 15, with squads #19-22 and the ultimate Desperado Squad on Saturday night.

A total of 64 players will qualify for the finals. The top 16 players will receive one bye into step 2 and will seeded 1-16.

The following 48 players will qualify for step 1:
- Players positioned 17-52 in the qualifying
- the top 6 from a separate standing for the squads conducted March 7-9, who are not among the top 52
- the top 6 from the Desperado Squad.

Those 48 will bowl six games starting from scratch to cut to the top 16 , who will meet the top 16 qualifiers in the first match play round. Match play is best-of-three games single-elimination. The field will be cut to 16, 8 and then four, who will determine the champion in a stepladder final.


Bowlingdigital will cover the event live from Paris with updates after each squad and round, respectively, and exclusive video footage commencing Thursday, March 13 all the way through to the finals on Sunday, March 16.