Ville Holmström (l.) closed out his six-game qualifying series Friday night at Tali Bowling in Helsinki with games of 263 and 288 to overtake the lead in the qualifying of the Brunswick Ballmaster Open. Holmström tied previous leader
Timo Alho at 1441 or an average of 240.17, but moved to the top due the higher last game.
Jouni Helminen, all from Finland, is third with 1437.
Paul Moor, England, and
Tomas Leandersson, Sweden, led the 7th and 8th qualifying squad. Leandersson is fourth with 1435 and Moor is fifth with 1402.
Mikael Kanold (left) rolled games of 248 and 234 to win the final round of 4 in the Hammer Bronzen Schietspoel Tournament in Tilburg, Netherlands with 482 pinfall total. The Swede pocketed 10.000 Euro and 100 ranking points for winning the third stop and the second "major" of the 2008 European Bowling Tour. Norwegian Tore Torgersen, who had a 287 in game #1 finished second with 448 behind a 161 in game #2. Martin Larsen, Sweden, who won the EBT event in Luxembourg last weekend, was third with 411 and PBA super star Brian Voss was fourth with 366. 
Martin Larsen from Sweden won his third career EBT title when he defeated Frederik Øhrgaard, Denmark, two-games-to-none in the title match of the Ebonite International Luxembourg Open at Inter-Bowling S.à r.l. in Foetz/Mondercange. The No. 1 seed won the first game 203-189 and sealed the victory with a 193-179 win in game #2. In the opening match, Larsen came back from 1-0 deficit against Dominic Barrett from England. Larsen leveled the match with a one-pin victory in game #2 (211-210) and flew past his opponent with a 300 game in the decider, the fourth perfecto of this year's tournament.
As reported earlier the Brunswick Euro Challenge, Europe's 'richest' tournament in the year 2007, will move from Greece to France. Brunswick has announced that the fifth edition is scheduled for March 7-16, 2008, and will be held at Plaza Bowling in Saint Maximin, France.
The 2008 Brunswick Euro Challenge sponsored by Brunswick Bowling will be organized by Brunswick distributor Valcke Bowling.
Jouni Helminen (l.), Finland, started the 2008 European Bowling Tour season with victory in the Brunswick Ballmaster Open at Tali Bowling in Helsinki, Finland. In the title match, Helminen defeated American Tim Mack, 223-189, to win the title and the 10.000 Euro top prize. Mack (r.) pocketed 5.000 and went on to win the battle for the 300 game bonus - a Suzuki Hayabusa worth 17.490 Euro. 
Ville Holmström (pictured left) won the qualifying in the Brunswick Ballmaster Open at Tali Bowling in Helsinki, Finland due to the higher last game. Holmström and Timo Alho (right) were deadlocked with 1441 six-game total but Holmström earned the bragging rights as he finished his block with a huge 288 game while Alho had 'only' 248. The top 44 from the qualifying plus the top 4 from the Desperado Squad advanced to the finals on Sunday. 
Timo Alho (left) led the fourth qualifying squad in the Brunswick Ballmaster Open with 1441 six-game total and an average of 240.17 en route to overtake the qualifying lead after day two. The top six players from this squad cracked the top 10 in the overall qualifying standings. Petteri Salonen (right), a four-time European Champion (2005), who led Squad 3 with 1338 (223.00), sits in 9th place. Qualifying continues on Thursday, Jan. 10, with squad 5 and 6. 
The 2008 European Bowling Tour schedule features 18 tournaments - 6 Challenger, 11 Major, 1 Premier - and will kick off with the Brunswick Ballmaster Open at Tali Bowling Stadium in Helsinki, Finland on Jan. 5, 2008. The 2007 Ballmaster drew 364 players, the most on the 2007 Tour, and was won by the organizer himself, Finnish star Kimmo Lehtonen. The 2008 season features two firsts for the EBT: a Premier event, the 100.000 Euro Ankara Open, and a tour stop outside Europe, the season-ending Qatar Open. 