Hussain Al-Suwaidi leads top 48 into the finals at Qatar Bowling Open

    11/29/11

    2011 European Bowling Tour #20

    46 men and two women survive first cut in Doha; Joline Persson-Planefors seals victory in 2011 EBT women's point ranking

    2009BWCHussainAlSuwaidi.jpg201112PBAMikaKoivuniemi.jpgHussain Al-Suwaidi (pictured left), UAE, remained unchallenged through the final four qualifying squads Monday at Qatar Bowling Open en route en route to lead 46 men and two women into the finals Tuesday at the Qatar Bowling Center in Doha, Qatar.

    The Emirati led the field of 123 players from 20 countries since Squad 7 with 1449 total, an average of 241.50, including games of 245, 246, 245, 267, 219 and 227.

    Al-Suwaidi and the next eight players earned one bye for the finals but the qualifying pinfall will be dropped. Second place belonged to reigning PBA Player of the Year and World Bowling Tour point ranking leader, Mika Koivuniemi (right), Finland, who was one pin behind with 1448.

    2011EBT04JimmyMortensen2.jpg2010EBT12MathiasArup.jpgJimmy Mortensen (left) led the final Squad 18 on Monday evening with 1436 after six games between 224 and 266 to land in third place. The Dane, who also led the morning squad 15 with 1255, won the daily High Series Award worth 200 Euro.

    Another three players cracked the top 9 on Monday. 2010 World Champion in Doubles, Mathias Ă…rup (right), Sweden, took fourth place after posting a 1431 series in Squad 16 European Bowling Tour men's point ranking leader Osku Palermaa was second to Ă…rup with 1399 to grab sixth place.

    201112PBASeanRash.jpg201112PBABillONeill.jpgFinally, four-time PBA champion Sean Rash (left) topped Squad 17 with 1395 to move into seventh place. Fellow PBA champions Bill O'Neill and Mike Fagan, all of United States, were in fifth and ninth place with 1423 and 1390, respectively.

    Rounding out the top 9 was Naif Oqab, UAE, in eighth place with 1390.

    All Events world champion Mai Ginge Jensen (below left) of Denmark, was the best of two women, who survived the first cut, in 12th place with 1379 including 48 pins handicap, a standard for women on the European Bowling Tour. The other was Joline Persson-Planefors, Sweden, who took the 36th and last place to advance with 1324.

    2011WWCMastersMaiGingeJensen.jpg2011WWCJolinePerssonPlanefors2.jpgOnly five women participated in the Qatar Bowling Open, the lowest number of female bowlers ever in the 12-year history of the European Bowling Tour. Leading the EBT women's point ranking by 106 points over Jensen, Persson-Planefors (right) has wrapped up her first career EBT ranking title.

    Joining the top 36 in the finals were eight bowlers, who advanced through Squads 1-8, plus the top 4 of the single-game Desperado Squad. Those four were Hazeem Al-Merekhi, Qatar (244), Mahmood Al Attar, UAE (236), Daniel Dol, Netherlands (228) and S.A. Hameed, India (227).

    2011EBT20QBFLogo_small.jpg The Qatar Bowling Open is the 20th and last stop of the 2011 European Bowling Tour and the second "Platinum" event of the 2011 EBT season. The tournament will be held from Wednesday Nov. 23 through Tuesday Nov. 29, 2011 at 32-lane Qatar Bowling Center in Doha, Qatar.

    The tournament offers total prize money of 125.000 Euro (approx. $167,850) with 30.000 Euro going to the winner, 14.400 Euro to the first runner-up and 5.000 Euro to the third and fourth place finishers.

    201011PBAStuartWilliams_small.jpg2010EBT05MaiGingeJensen_small.jpg In the 2010 Qatar Bowling Open PBA exempt player Stuart Williams (pictured left), England, defeated Mai Ginge Jensen (right), Denmark, over two games total pinfall, 422-417, en route to claim his sixth title on the European Bowling Tour and the 30.000 Euro top prize.

    Williams won the first game by four pins (202-198) and the second game by one pin (220-219) to wrap up the title. Jensen, who won the women's ranking in Qatar, was consoled with 15.000 Euro for second place.

    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 such as the Qatar Bowling Open receives 250 ranking points, the winner of a Gold tournament gets 150, the winner of a Silver tournament earns 100, and the winner of a Satellite tournament gets 50 ranking points.

    2011 European Bowling Tour Rankings by Bowlingdigital - Current Standings
    2011 EBT Men's Ranking
    2011 EBT Women's Ranking

    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 Qatar Bowling Open (6 games, unlimited re-entries) runs through Monday, Nov. 28 and ends with Squad 18 and the ultimate one-game Desperado Squad scheduled for 11 p.m. local time. Women receive 8 pins handicap each game throughout the entire event, a standard for women on the European Bowling Tour.

    A total of 48 players - the top 36 in the overall qualifying standings, the top 2 of the Nov. 23rd squads, the top 3 each of the Nov. 24 and 25 squads, plus the top 4 from the Desperado Squad - advanced to the finals on Tuesday, Nov. 29, 2011.

    The top 9 qualifiers earn one bye. The remaining 39 players will bowl six games scratch with the top 19 advancing to the second round. Those 19 and the nine qualifying leaders will roll another six-game block scratch to cut to the top 4, who advance to the semifinals.

    The No. 1 bowls No. 4 and the No. 2 bowls No. 2 with the two-game total pinfall determining the winner. The two semifinal winners will bowl for the title and the 30.000 Euro top prize.

     


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    Standings after Qualifying and Desperado Squad


    The top 36 plus the top 2 of Squads 1-2 (places 37-38), the top 3 each of Squads 3-5 (places 39-41) and Squads 6-8 (places 42-44) plus the top 4 of the Desperado Squad (places 45-48) advance to the finals. The top 9 earn one bye.

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