Annop Arromsaranon (right) continued to lead the 134-player field from 12 countries with 1525 six-game total and an average of 254.17, including games of 235, 258, 267, 228, 258 and 279.

His fellow countrymen Surasak Manuwong and Yannaphon Larp-apharat led the two squads on Sunday to position themselves in second and third place in the overall standings.

Surasak (left and featured) used high games of 278 and 276 in games four and six to win squad 4 and to jump into second place with 1465 and an average of 244.17.

Yannaphon had games of 238, 257, 223, 193, 279 and 249 in squad 3 to improve his high series by 154 pins and to leap into third place in the standings with 1439 total and an average of 239.83.

Yannaphon (right) beat out Germany’s Oliver Morig for the bragging rights by four pins. Morig sits in fourth place with 1435, including a 288 game.

Joining the top 4 in the 1400-club were Birgit Pöppler of Germany (left – 5th; 1431), Hassan Alshaikh of Saudi Arabia (6th; 1429), Rafiq Ismail of Malaysia (7th; 1408) and Patrick Weichert of Germany (8th; 1401).

Pöppler, who won her first PWBA title in the Storm PWBA/PBA Striking Against Breast Cancer Mixed Doubles with Jason Sterner of Cocoa, Fla., in July 2017, received eight pins handicap. She is the best of 35 women in the field.

The top 5 after four squads will earn automatic berths into next Sunday’s finals, if they don’t finish in the top 50 in the overall qualifying standings. If any of the five bowlers finishes among the top 50, the automatic spot drops to the next player in the squad 1-4 standings.

Nico Neubüser (right) of Germany averaged 196.80 for his first five games in squad 3 before he closed with 289, the highest game of the tournament so far, to sit in 40th place with 1273 total.

With four of 18 squads in the books, Daniel Friesch of Germany holds the 50th and last spot to advance from the qualifying standings with 1240 and an average of 206.67.

Qualifying continues on Tuesday, March 13, with squads 5 and 6 starting at 4 and 8 p.m. Central European Time (CET).

The 15th Brunswick Euro Challenge is the fourth stop on the 2018 European Bowling Tour and the first of two EBT “Platinum” events this season, the highest of the five EBT tournament categories (platinum, gold, silver, bronze and satellite).

The BEC, which is also the curtain-raiser to the World Bowling Tour 2018, will be held from March 10-18 at Dream-Bowl Palace in Unterföhring in suburban Munich, Germany, the biggest bowling center in Europe with 52 lanes.

Almost 400 players from 38 countries are expected to compete for total prize fund of 105.000 Euro with 11.500 Euro going to the winner, 8.500 Euro to the first runner-up and 5.500 Euro to the third place finisher. Low to cash is 64th place, worth 800 Euro.

Women receive 8 pins handicap each game (up to 292 – maximum score is 300), an equality handicap provided to women in all EBT events. The top three women after qualifying receive 1.200, 700 and 500 Euro bonuses, respectively.

Qualifying kicked off Saturday, March 10, and runs through Saturday, March 17, with the final Squad 18 slated for 8 p.m. Central European Time (CET). Qualifying concludes with the ultimate one-game Desperado Squad at 11.30 p.m.

Total 64 players qualify for the finals on Sunday, March 18, including the top 50 in the overall qualifying standings, the top 5 each from a separate leaderboard of the squads conducted March 13-14 and 10-11, and the top 4 of the Desperado Squad.

The top 12 qualifiers receive a first-round bye. The other 52 players bowl six games scratch to cut to the top 16 who will join the top 12 qualifiers in round two. Those 28 bowl another six games scratch after which the field is trimmed to the top 8 for match play.

Round two pinfall will be carried forward. During the seven games of match play, players receive 30 bonus pins for winning a match and 15 pins each in the event of a tie.

The top 3 players with the highest 13-game total, including bonus pins, will determine the champion in a stepladder final. The No. 3 seed bowls the No. 2 seed and the winner of the semifinal match takes on the No. 1 seed for the title and the 11.500 Euro top prize.

The 2018 European Bowling Tour features 13 tournaments in 10 countries including two “platinum”, two “gold”, three “silver”, three “bronze” and three “satellite” events, which will offer total prize fund of more than 560.000 Euro.

The top 50 men and the top 50 women in each event receive ranking points. Those points will be tabulated throughout the season to determine the top 8 men and top 8 women, who will be eligible to compete in the 12th EBT Masters July 8, 2019 at Bowling Chamartín in Madrid, Spain.

The World Bowling Tour is sanctioned by World Bowling, the governing body for the sport of bowling. The tour is the premier international bowling series that is hosted in numerous, unique cities around the globe.

Due to an agreement between World Bowling and the Professional Bowlers Association (PBA), World Bowling Tour tournaments will award a PBA Tour title if the winner is a PBA member who doesn’t accept handicap pins.

The World Bowling Tour 2018 consists of ten stops in Germany, South Korea, Sweden, Thailand, Hong Kong and the United States of America (5).

Men and women compete for points to earn places on the World Bowling Tour rankings. The points system is based on a continuous two-year cycle, where points include every event from the previous two year format. “Majors” award double points.

The top three men and top three women in the annual points list will compete in the season-ending World Bowling Tour Finals (date and venue tba).

World Bowling provides governance to international bowling and is made up of 134 bowling international federations. For more information on the World Bowling Tour, click here.

Related Articles

Annop Arromsaranon takes commanding lead in 15th Brunswick Euro Challenge
15th Brunswick Euro Challenge – Tournament Preview
Brunswick, Dream-Bowl Palace extend Euro Challenge partnership through 2021
2018 European Bowling Tour Schedule & Champions
Dom Barrett wins Brunswick Euro Challenge 2017

2018 Brunswick Euro Challenge – Qualifying Standings after Squad 4/18

Top 50 qualifiers, top 5 from March 13-14 squads, top 5 from March 10-11 squads and top 4 of the Desperado Squad will advance to the finals on Sunday, March 18.