Martin Larsen becomes first player in Lahti to reach the 1400-mark

    10/14/11

    2011 European Bowling Tour #18

    Swede shoots 1426 to take the qualifying lead; cut for 36th place is 1233 (205.50)

    2011EBT18MartinLarsen.jpg2011EBT18TeemuAsplund.jpgMartin Larsen (pictured left) of Sweden became the first player in the Ebonite Lahti Open, who reached the 1400-mark, en route to shoot into the lead in the qualifying Thursday afternoon at Lahti Bowl in Lahti, Finland.

    Larsen, who won the qualifying in the most recent Columbia 300 Vienna Open, had games of 231, 241, 184, 246, 268 and 256 in Squad 7/15 for 1426 and an average of 237.67.

    The multiple world champion, who will bowl the entire 2011-12 Professional Bowlers Association Tour, leads Teemu Asplund (right), Finland, by 39 pins.

    2011EBT04JariRatia.jpg2011EBT18MikkoHirvonen.jpgAsplund, who led the tournament since Squad 2, sklipped to second place with 1387 and was followed by Pasi Uotila, Finland, in third place with 1352 and Oleksandr Kondratyev, Ukraine, in fourth place with 1335.

    2008 World Ranking Masters champion Jari Ratia (left), Finland, was second to Larsen in Squad 7 with 1320 including a 265 opening game to leap into fifth place in the overall qualifying standings.

    Squad 6 leader Mikko Hirvonen (right), Finland, who also had a 1320 series, slipped to sisth place due to Ratia's higher last game (227 to 222).

    2011EBT18PetteriSalonen.jpg2011EBT17HeidiThorstensen.jpgMultiple European champion Petteri Salonen (left), Finland, led the evening Squad 8 with 1309 to overtake ninth place. Heidi Thorstensen (right), Norway, is currently the best of 24 women in the 177-player field from six countreies in 15th place with 1289 including 48 pins handicap.

    As the Ebonite Lahti Open has reached its halfway point, 2003 world champion in Singles, Mika Luoto, Finland, is the man "on the bubble" in 36th place with 1233 and an average of 205.50.

    Qualifying continues on Friday, Oct. 14, with Squads 9, 10 and 11 scheduled to start at 11 a.m., 3 and 7 p.m. local time (CET+1).

    2008LahtiOpenLogo.jpg The Ebonite Lahti Open is the 18th stop of the 2011 European Bowling Tour and the last "Silver" event of the 2011 EBT season. The tournament will be held from Saturday Oct. 8 through Sunday Oct. 16, 2011 at 20-lane Lahti Bowl in Lahti, Finland.

    Lahti is the capital of the Päijänne Tavastia region. It is situated on a bay at the southern end of lake Vesijärvi about 100 kilometers (60 miles) north-east of the capital Helsinki.

    The tournament offers total prize fund of 52.200 Euro with 10.000 Euro going to the winner and 5.000 Euro to the runner-up as well as 3.000 and 2.000 Euro to the third and fourth place finisher.

    2010EBT16MichaelFagan_small.jpg2010EBT05MaiGingeJensen_small.jpg In the 2010 Lahti Open, two-time PBA championMichael Fagan (left), United States, came from fourth to first place averaging almost 250 in the stepladder finals to win his third EBT title. In the title match, Fagan defeated top seeded Mai Ginge Jensen, Denmark, 247-207, to claim the title and the 10.000 Euro top prize. Jensen, who won the women's ranking, finished second for 5.000 Euro.

    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 gets 150, the winner of a Silver tournament such as the Lahti Open 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.

    Qualifying of the 2011 Ebonite Lahti Open (six-game series, unlimited re-entries) runs from Saturday, Oct. 8 through Saturday, Oct. 15 with the final Squad 15 scheduled for 8 p.m. local time (CET +1). Qualifying concludes with the single-game Desperado Squad slated for 11.30 p.m.

    Women will receive 8 pins handicap each game throughout the entire event, a standard for women on the European Bowling Tour.

    The Ebonite Lahti Open features a 41 feet Kegel lane conditioning pattern with 21.45ml volume oil total.

    A total of 40 players - the top 36 from the qualifying and top 4 from the Desperado Squad - will advance to the finals on Sunday, Oct. 16. The top 8 qualifiers earn one bye and will be seeded into Final Round 2.

    The remaining 32 players bowl 6 games starting from scratch. The top 12 join the top 8 qualifiers and bowl 5 games from scratch with the top 10 advancing to Round Three. Those 10 players bowl another five-game series with the pinfall from Round Two being carried forward to cut to the top 4 who advance to the stepladder finals.

    The No. 4 seed meets the No. 3 seed, the winner takes on the No. 2 for the right to bowl the No. 1 for the title. All stepladder matches are single-game matches.

     


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    Qualifying Standings after Squad 8/15

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