2008 Duisburg

Thomas Gross (l.) from Austria improved on a second-place finish from last year when defeated Svein Roger Olsen (r.), Norway, 2-1, to win the men's title in the 31st European Champions Cup. In the semifinals, Olsen upset top seeded Sami Konsteri, Finland, 2-0, while Gross made quick work of Swede Mathias Årup, 2-0. Konsteri and Årup shared the bronze medal. The top 8 countries, Austria, Finland, England, Germany, Belgium, France, Norway and Netherlands qualified for 2009 World Games in Kaohsiung, Chinese Taipei.

No. 1 seeded Zara Glover (left) from England, won the women's title in 31st European Champions Cup at Treff Bowling in Duisburg, Germany, in two straight games against Krista Pöllänen (right), Finland, two-games-to-none. In the semis, Glover went the distance to win against Germany's Patricia Luoto, 2-1, while Pöllänen came back from an opening game loss to beat Ivonne Gross, Austria, 2-0. Luoto and Gross hared the bronze medal.

Sami Konsteri (l.), Finland, finished the 24-game preliminaries in the Men's European Champions Cup in Duisburg, Germany, with a 269 game to lead the top 8 men into the single-elimination best-of-three game finals on Saturday. Konsteri felled 1808 pins in the third and final 8-game block on dual lane condition (one lane with short, the other with long oil) and a 5403 24-game total, an average of 225.13, to beat out Dominic Barrett (r.), England for the No. 1 seed by mere four pins.

Overnight leader Zara Glover (left) posted the second-highest 8-game block on the mixed lane condition (left lane with short oil, right lane with long oil) on the third and final day of the preliminaries en route to lead the top 8 women into the finals of the 31st European Champions Cup at Treff Bowling in Duisburg, Germany. Glover averaged 217.38 on Friday and felled 1739 pins to win the qualifying with 5334 and an overall average of 222.25. The top 8 players after the preliminaries qualified for the single-elimination final in best-of-three games format.Glover will meet No. 8 Olga Tarasove, Ukraine in the quarterfinals on Saturday morning.

Zara Glover (l.), England, averaged 226.25 on day two qualifying in the Women's European Champions Cup to overtake the lead after 16 out of 24 qualifying games with 3595 pinfall total and an average of 224.95. Krista Pöllänen, Finland, (r.) fired the highest 8-game block of the day - both men and women - with 1875 (234.38 average) to leap from fourth to second place with 3571. Short oil leader Marieke de Jong, Netherlands, slipped to third place with 3505. All 39 women retun on Friday morning for the final 8-game block before the cut to the top 8.

Squad 1 leader Jean-Marc Lebon (l.), Belgium, led the 42-player field Thursday on long oil to widen his lead and to practically secure a spot for the top-8 finals in the the Men's European Champions Cup. Lebon felled 3699 pins over 16 games, an average of 231.19, to lead his nearest competitor, Sami Konsteri (r.), by 104 pins and to hold a huge 352 pin buffer to 9th place. All players will return on Friday for the final block before the cut to the top 8. 

Jean-Marc Lebon (l.), Belgium, led the 42-player field in the Men's European Champions Cup after eight games on short oil with 1868 or an average of 233.50. Lebon used seven games over 200 including a 290 in game #7 and a 194 low game to hold a 79-pin cushion over England's Dominic Barrett, who sits in second place with 1789. The two-time World Youth champion started Wednesday afternoon at Treff Bowling in Duisburg, Germany, with a disappointing 125 game but rebounded with seven games between 203 and 264. All players - men and women - will return Thursday for the second block on long oil.

Marieke de Jong from the Netherlands averaged 224.63 on the short oil pattern en route to overtake the lead in the Women's European Champions Cup after Block One on Wednesday morning at Treff Bowling in Duisburg, Germany. De Jong used high games of 246 and 248 to lead the field of 39 women from 39 European Tenpin Bowling Federation member federations after the first of three blocks with 1797 pinfall total. Zara Glover, England was close behind to finish in second place with 1785. Isabelle Sacco, France was the third player, who reached the 1700-mark, with 1701.The 39 women will return on Thursday for the second block on long oil. 

The 31st European Champions Cup will be held at Achim Grabowski's Treff Bowling in Duisburg, Germany, Oct. 20-26, 2008. Real action starts on Wednesday, Oct. 22nd with the men's and women's finals scheduled for Saturday, Oct. 25 at 1 and 2.15 pm, respectively. 41 countries have announced to participate. Bowlingdigital will cover the event live from Treff Bowling in Duisburg commencing Wednesday Oct. 22.