Anton Stiel (pictured left) of Austria converted a single-pin spare and got nine on the fill ball to win the fifth qualifying squad of the 9th Columbia 300 Vienna Open Wednesday afternoon at Plus Bowling in Vienna, Austria en route to earn an automatic berth into Sunday's finals worth minimum 500 Euro.

Stiel, who was the winner of the first qualifying in last year's Columbia 300 Vienna Open, came out of the gates quickly posting games of 211, 235 and 255 for 701 after three games. He struggled in the last three games (190, 183 and 184) but maintained a slim eight-pin lead over Italy's Marco Parapini (on the right with his wife).

With his 1258 total Stiel moved into eighth place in the overall qualifying standings. Parapini was second in Squad 5 with 1250, good for 12th place overall. Former team USA member Tina Stickney was third with 1217 including 48 pins handicap, a standard for women on the European Bowling Tour, en route to overtake 26th place.

Stuart Williams (pictured left with Tina Stickney), England, continued to lead the 158-player field with 1307 pinfall total and an average of 217.83. No other player has cracked the 1300-bar so far.

Squad 2 winner Luminita Farkas (right), Romania, is the best of six women above the cut line in 18th place with 1234 including handicap. Like Williams, Stiel and squad 1 and 3 leaders Rene Landl and Alexander Rauscher, both Austria, Farkas is automatically qualified for the finals.

There will be one more wild card for the leader of Squad 6. In case that any of the first six squad leaders qualifies among the top 52, the next player of this squad will take advantage.

With five out of 17 qualifying squads in the books, Walter Rieger, Austria, is the "man on the bubble" in 52nd place with 1137 or an average of 189.50.

Anton Stiel teamed with Bernhard Pittesser (pictured left) to lead the 24 Doubles of Squad 5 with 2365 pinfall total and an average of 197, good for 13th place at the moment. The top 20 doubles will cash.

Austrian national team members Rene Landl and Roman Fürbacher lead the doubles competition since the very first squad with 2501 (208.42). Parapini and Benjamin Kubalek (right), Austria, were two pins behind in Stiel/Pitesser with 2365 to sit in 14th place. Stickney and Steve Miller, England, were third in the squad and 22nd overall with 2302.

Qualifying continues Wednesday with Squad 6 scheduled for 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.

 

Related Articles

Anton Stiel repeats as Squad leader in 9th Columbia 300 Vienna Open
Stuart Williams starts second day of qualifying in Vienna with victory in Squad 4
Alexander Rauscher leads after Day One Qualifying in 9th Columbia 300 Vienna Open
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 5/17
Singles Squad 5

Doubles Results - Standings after Squad 5/17
Doubles Squad 5