With four events remaining on the schedule for the 2008 European Bowling Tour, Osku Palermaa from Finland and Kirsten Penny, England sit in the driver's seat in the men's and women's European rankings.

Four out of the top 8 men, Palermaa, Tore Torgersen, Norway, Dominic Barrett and Paul Moor, both England could not compete in the 6th Columbia 300 Vienna Open in Austria last week as they were invited to bowl in the Weber Cup.

Both events clashed once again despite the Vienna Open organizers have moved from the third to the first week of October to avoid the clash. It didn't help as the organizers of the Weber Cup made the move.

The 2009 Vienna Open (Sep. 29 - Oct. 4) will be held in the same week as in 2008. We don't know if this automatically means that the Weber Cup 2009 will be staged Oct. 2-4, but we will try to find it out.

As only Martin Larsen and Robert Andersson (l-r), both Sweden, earned ranking from the top 8 players, the only change was that Andersson overtook Pasi Uotila, Finland, to move into 7th place with 307 ranking points. Uotila fell to 8th with 306.

Palermaa leads with 544 points, Barrett is second with 525, with Torgersen in third at 475. Larsen is fourth with 463, followed by fellow countryman Peter Ljung in fifth place with 428. Moor is sixth with 321.

Penny leads the women's division with 567 ranking points. Nina Flack, Sweden, narrowed the gap by six points in Vienna but remained in second place with 504. Dutch Nicole Sanders and Ghislaine van der Tol sit in third and fourth place with 478 and 408, respectively.

Britt Brøndsted, Denmark, and Tina Hulsch, Germany, are tied for fifth place with 342 points. Marilyn Planchard, France, is seventh with 327. The only change in the women's division was that Anne Lorraine Gales (right), Denmark, moved from 12th to 8th place with 312.

All eight women earned ranking points in Vienna. Vienna Open champion Patricia Luoto, who became the 10th woman to win an EBT tournament with men and women in one division, leaped from 23rd to 16th place (249 points) after receiving 100 ranking points fort he victory in an EBT major.

Men's champion Martin Paulsson, Sweden, topped Luoto's impressive leapfrog, moving from 27th to 16th with 196 ranking point total. The top eight men and the top eight women at the end of the ranking season will qualify for the 2009 World Ranking Masters in Naples, Italy. In addition, the top 16 men and the top 16 women will qualify for the EBT Masters in May 2008 in Aalborg, Denmark.

The European Bowling Tour will continue this week with the Ebonite Lahti Open, an EBT Challenger event, at Jouni Helminen's Lahti Bowl in Lahti, Finland from Oct. 12-19, 2008.


2008 Men's Ranking - Top 8 after Vienna
1. Osku Palermaa, Finland, 544
2. Dominic Barrett, England, 525
3. Tore Torgersen, Norway, 475
4. Martin Larsen, Sweden, 463
5. Peter Ljung, Sweden, 428
6. Paul Moor, England, 321
7. Robert Andersson, Sweden, 307
8. Pasi Uotila, Finland, 306


2008 Women's Ranking - Top 8 after Vienna
1. Kirsten Penny, England, 567
2. Nina Flack, Sweden, 504
3. Nicole Sanders, Netherlands, 478
4. Ghislaine van der Tol, Netherlands, 408
5. Britt Brøndsted, Denmark, 342
(tie) Tina Hulsch, Germany, 342
7. Marilyn Planchard, France, 327
8. Anne Lorraine Gales, Denmark, 312

EBT Men's Rankings after 13 events
EBT Women's Rankings after 13 events