Alexander Rauscher (pictured left) became the second Austrian national team member to win a squad on day one qualifying in 9th Columbia 300 Vienna Open en route to earn berth into Sunday's finals.

Rauscher spared and struck in the final frame of his six-game series to overtake Israeli national team member Or Aviram (right) by four pins, 1271 to 1267. Besides qualifying for the main event, Rauscher, who played with a Columbia bowling ball and was wearing a Columbia shirt, became the first squad leader, who earned the Columbia Early Bird Award worth $500.

The Austrian also overtook the lead in the overall qualifying standings behind games of 198, 205, 188, 198, 235 and 247, an average of 211.83. Aviram, who opened twice in the last three frames had to settle for second place and also moved into second place in the overall standings.

Marek Talpa, Czech Republic, closed out his series with a huge 278 game to finish mere two pins behind Aviram with 1265. Talpa overtook previous leader Rene Landl (left with Roman Fürbacher, left) , who led Squad 1 with 1251, by 14 pins. The Austrian national team member slipped to fourth place with team mate Roman Fürbacher in fifth place with 1250.

Daniel Hahn, Austria, had a chance to strike out for 1276, but he had to settle for 1241 after suffering an open frame, good for fourth place in Squad 3 and sixth overall.

Rounding out the top 8 after the first of five qualifying days was the fourth Austrian international, Michael Loos (left), with 1239 and the best woman in the 129-player field thus far, Luminita Farkas (above right), Romania, with 1234 including 48 pins handicap. Landl and Fürbacher held on to the lead in Doubles with 2501 and an average of 208.42. Aviram and Israeli women's national team member Shahaf Antin were the best duo in Squad 3 to overtake second place in the overall standings with 2448.

Walter Gruellenberger and Roland Leisch, Austria, fell to third place with 2432. 2007 European Doubles champions Thomas Gross and Thomas "TT" Tybl (pictured right, l-r)moved into fourth place with 2430. Only the top 4 of 81 doubles thus far have managed a 200 team average.

Qualifying continues Wednesday with Squad 4, 5 and 6 scheduled for noon, 4 and 8 p.m. CET.

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 €.

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.

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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Romania's Luminita Farkas wins second qualifying squad in Vienna
Austrian national team members take early lead in 9th Columbia 300 Vienna Open
9-pin no-tap tournament Tournament kicks off 9th Columbia 300 Vienna Open
Live Coverage from the 9th Columbia 300 Vienna Open
2011 EBT Schedule and Champions

 

9th Columbia 300 Vienna Open - Singles and Doubles Results (pdf files)

Singles Qualifying - Standings after Squad 3/17
Singles Squad 3

Doubles Results - Standings after Squad 3/17
Doubles Squad 3