Austrian national team members take early lead in 9th Columbia 300 Vienna Open

    09/27/11

    2011 European Bowling Tour #17

    Rene Landl, Roman FĂĽrbacher set the tone in Doubles and Singles Qualifying

    2011EBT17ReneLandl.jpg2011EBT17RomanFurbacher.jpgThe qualifying of the 9th Columbia 300 Vienna Open got underway on Tuesday, Sept. 27th at noon CET with the first of 17 squads at 32-lane Plus Bowling in Vienna, Austria.

    Austrian national team members Rene Landl and Roman FĂĽrbacher posted the two highest six-game series in a full squad of 30 Doubles en route to take the lead in Singles Qualifying and teamed to also set the tone in Doubles.

    Landl (pictured left) had games of 192, 186, 192, 222, 254 and 205 to beat out his team mate for the top spot by one pin, 1251 to 1250. FĂĽrbacher (right), who started with 187, 224, 211, 184 and 220, fell one pin short of the lead despite a 224 final game.

    2011EBT17ThomasGrossMichaelLoos.jpg2011EBT17AlexanderMedveditskov.jpgAustrian international Michael Loos (left with Thomas Gross, right), who led after five games of 196, 190, 237, 223 and 215 had to settle for third place behind a low game of 178 and 1239 total.

    Walter Gruellenberger, Austria, was fourth with 1229 and was followed by another Austrian national team member, European champion and two-time European Champions Cup winner Thomas Gross, who checked in with 1209 pins.

    Alexander Medveditskov (right), Russia, was the best foreigner in Squad 1 in sixth place with 1205. Roland Leisch, Austria, was the seventh and last player who reached the 1200-mark.

    2011EBT17KaterinaBestova.jpgKaterina Bestova (right), Czech Republic, was the best woman in eighth place with 1182 including 48 pins handicap, a standard for women on the European Bowling Tour.

    Qualifying continues today with Squad 2 and 3 scheduled for 4 and 8 p.m.

    2011VOLogo_small.jpg The 9th Columbia 300 Vienna Open is the 17th stop of the 2011 European Bowling Tour and the last of six EBT "Gold" tournaments this season. 325 players from 30 countries are expected to compete for total prize fund of 70.630 Euro (approx. $95,000) - 60.400 € for Singles and 10.230 € for the Doubles event.

    The singles champion will receive the 7.000 € top prize, the runner-up earns 5.000 and the third-place finisher gets 3.500 Euro. The doubles winners will split 1.600 €.

    EboniteLogo_mini.jpg In addition, players can earn money for a Perfect Columbia Game ($1,000 for every 300 game bowled in the tournament with a Columbia 300 ball), a Perfect Ebonite Game ($500 for every 300 game bowled in the tournament with a ball manufactured by EBONITE International, including the brands of Ebonite, Track and Hammer) and a Columbia Early Bird Award ($500 for the leader of each of the first seven squads of the tournament. To qualify for this award, the player must be wearing a shirt and must also be using a ball from any of the EBONITE International brands including Columbia 300, Ebonite, Track and Hammer).

    The Vienna Open features a 41 feet Kegel lane conditioning pattern with 26.2ml volume oil total.

    The qualifying is traditionally contested as a Doubles tournament with separate prize money. Each duo rolls at least one six-game block. Unlimited re-entries with different partners are possible but each player can only cash once with the same partner.

    Qualifying runs from Tuesday through Saturday and concludes with Squad 17 Oct. 1 at 8 p.m. and ends with the ultimate one-game Desperado Squad on Saturday night slated for 11.30 p.m. CET. Women receive 8 pins handicap each game, a standard on the European Bowling Tour

    A total of 64 players will qualify for the Vienna Open finals on Sunday, Oct. 2:
    • the top 52 players from the overall qualifying standings
    • the first player each from Squad 1-6, who is not among the top 52 (total 6 players)
    • and the top 6 from the Desperado Squad.

    The top 8 qualifying leaders will bypass the first round of the finals. The other 56 players will bowl 6 games starting from scratch to cut to the top 22, who will join the top qualifiers in Round Two.

    Those 30 players will bowl another 6 games starting from scratch after which the field will be trimmed to the top 18, who will carry their pinfall forward into Round Three. After another 6-game block the top 4 with the highest 12-game total will advance to the stepladder finals.

    The No. 4 seed meets the No. 3 in the opening match and the winner takes on the No. 2 seed for the right to bowl the top seed for the title, 150 ranking points and the 7.000 Euro top prize.

    BowlingdigitalBanner.gif For the ninth year in a row, Bowlingdigital will cover the Columbia 300 Vienna Open live from Plus Bowling in Vienna with stories and results after each round commencing Monday Sept. 27 with the no-tap tournament all the way through to the stepladder finals on Sunday Oct. 2.

    Bowling fans around the world will be able to watch the stepladder finals on Sunday, Oct. 2 at 5 p.m. CET live on Bowlingdigital.com. The live streaming coverage is a partnership between theAustrian Bowling Federation, Plus Bowling, Columbia 300 and Bowlingdigital.com.

    Since the English Open has lost its EBT status, the 2011 European Bowling Tour consists of 20 tour stops in 16 countries including two Platinum, six Gold, six Silver and six Satellite tournaments.

    The top 50 men and the top 50 women in each event receive ranking points. The winner of a Platinum tournament receives 250 ranking points, the winner of a Gold tournament such as the Vienna Open gets 150, the winner of a Silver tournament earns 100, and the winner of a Satellite tournament gets 50 ranking points.

    The top 16 men and the top 16 women at the end of the 2011 season qualify for the fifth EBT Masters to be held at Dream-Bowl Palace in Unterföhring near Munich, Germany on April 30 and May 1, 2012. The event will become the first EBT Masters to be contested on single lane condition.

     


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