42nd Brunswick Ballmaster Open kicks off 2012 World and European Bowling Tour season
01/06/12
The Brunswick Ballmaster Open will kick off both the 2012 World Bowling Tour and the 2012 European Bowling Tour season when the 42nd edition of Europe's most prestigious tournament gets underway at Tali Bowling Center in Helsinki, Finland.
The EBT Gold event, which offers 90.300 Euro total prize fund and a 12.000 Euro top prize, starts its ten-day run on Friday, January 6th at 7 p.m. local time (CET -1) with the first of total 16 qualifying squads.
Since the inception of the European Bowling Tour in the year 2000, the Ballmaster has been the season-opening event of the Tour. Heading into its 13th season the 2012 EBT will feature 22 tournaments - 2 Platinum, 5 Gold, 8 Silver and 7 Satellite - in 17 countries, two each in Denmark, France, Italy, Netherlands and Spain and one each in Austria, Croatia, Finland, Germany, Norway, Poland, Qatar, Russia, San Marino, Slovakia, Slovenia and Turkey. The total prize fund of the 2012 EBT exceeds 1.125 million Euro.
The Ballmaster is also the first event on World Bowling Tour, which was inaugurated in 2011. The 2012 WBT consists of 14 tournaments in America, Asia, Europe and Australia - five in the United States and one each in Australia, Austria, Bahamas, Finland, France, Japan, Korea, Kuwait and Thailand,.
Reigning PBA Player of the Year Mika Koivuniemi (pictured left) is the two-time defending Ballmaster Open champion. In the 2012 title match, the "Big Finn" topped fellow PBA champion Sean Rash, United States, 236-191, to claim his third career Ballmaster title.
2012 European Bowling Tour #1
EBT Gold tournament offers 90.300 Euro total prize fund and a 12.000 Euro top prize
The Brunswick Ballmaster Open will kick off both the 2012 World Bowling Tour and the 2012 European Bowling Tour season when the 42nd edition of Europe's most prestigious tournament gets underway at Tali Bowling Center in Helsinki, Finland. The EBT Gold event, which offers 90.300 Euro total prize fund and a 12.000 Euro top prize, starts its ten-day run on Friday, January 6th at 7 p.m. local time (CET -1) with the first of total 16 qualifying squads.
Since the inception of the European Bowling Tour in the year 2000, the Ballmaster has been the season-opening event of the Tour. Heading into its 13th season the 2012 EBT will feature 22 tournaments - 2 Platinum, 5 Gold, 8 Silver and 7 Satellite - in 17 countries, two each in Denmark, France, Italy, Netherlands and Spain and one each in Austria, Croatia, Finland, Germany, Norway, Poland, Qatar, Russia, San Marino, Slovakia, Slovenia and Turkey. The total prize fund of the 2012 EBT exceeds 1.125 million Euro.
The Ballmaster is also the first event on World Bowling Tour, which was inaugurated in 2011. The 2012 WBT consists of 14 tournaments in America, Asia, Europe and Australia - five in the United States and one each in Australia, Austria, Bahamas, Finland, France, Japan, Korea, Kuwait and Thailand,.
Reigning PBA Player of the Year Mika Koivuniemi (pictured left) is the two-time defending Ballmaster Open champion. In the 2012 title match, the "Big Finn" topped fellow PBA champion Sean Rash, United States, 236-191, to claim his third career Ballmaster title. 2009 World Games champion Krista Pöllänen (right), Finland, finished the tournament in ninth place to win the women's ranking.
The 42nd Brunswick Ballmaster Open is the first of five "EBT Gold" events, the second-highest EBT category, in the 2011 season. The tournament will be held from Friday Jan. 6 through Sunday Jan. 15, 2012 at 36-lane Tali Bowl in Finland's capital city Helsinki.
Players will compete for total prize money of 90.300 Euro with 12.000 Euro going to the winner, 8.000 to the runner-up and 4.000 and 3.000 to the third and fourth place finishers, respectively.
Note: As a consequence of the Finnish tax regulations, there will be a tax on prize money for non-Finnish participants. The tax, which is 15% of any prize, will be deducted from the prizes by the organizer.
The 2012 European Bowling Tour consists of 22 tour stops in 17 countries including two Platinum, five Gold, eight Silver and seven 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 Brunswick Ballmaster 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 2012 season qualify for the sixth EBT Masters to be held Sept. 23rd, 2013 at BNC Bowling Center in Bratislava, Slovakia.
Qualifying of the 2012 Brunswick Ballmaster Open runs through Saturday, Jan. 14, and ends with Squad 16 and the ultimate one-game Desperado Squad slated for 11.30 p.m. local time (CET -1) on Saturday night. Women will receive 8 pins handicap each game, a standard for women on the European Bowling Tour.
The BBO 2012 features a 39.5 feet lane conditioning pattern..
A total of 48 players - the top 44 from the overall qualifying standings plus the top 4 from the Desperado Squad - will qualify for the finals on Sunday, Jan. 15. No byes will be given in this tournament.
The finals are similar to the old PBA format. All 48 finalists will bowl 8 games starting from scratch to cut to the top 16 who will advance to the match play portion with the pinfall of Round 1 being carried forward
Those 16 will bowl 15 games of round robin match play. Players earn 30 bonus pins for each match won and 15 points for a tied match. The top 4 players after 23 games including bonus will determine the champion in a traditional stepladder final.
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, the 12.000 Euro top prize and 150 ranking points.
The 42nd Brunswick Ballmaster Open is the first of five "EBT Gold" events, the second-highest EBT category, in the 2011 season. The tournament will be held from Friday Jan. 6 through Sunday Jan. 15, 2012 at 36-lane Tali Bowl in Finland's capital city Helsinki.Players will compete for total prize money of 90.300 Euro with 12.000 Euro going to the winner, 8.000 to the runner-up and 4.000 and 3.000 to the third and fourth place finishers, respectively.
Note: As a consequence of the Finnish tax regulations, there will be a tax on prize money for non-Finnish participants. The tax, which is 15% of any prize, will be deducted from the prizes by the organizer.
The 2012 European Bowling Tour consists of 22 tour stops in 17 countries including two Platinum, five Gold, eight Silver and seven 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 Brunswick Ballmaster 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 2012 season qualify for the sixth EBT Masters to be held Sept. 23rd, 2013 at BNC Bowling Center in Bratislava, Slovakia.
Qualifying of the 2012 Brunswick Ballmaster Open runs through Saturday, Jan. 14, and ends with Squad 16 and the ultimate one-game Desperado Squad slated for 11.30 p.m. local time (CET -1) on Saturday night. Women will receive 8 pins handicap each game, a standard for women on the European Bowling Tour.
The BBO 2012 features a 39.5 feet lane conditioning pattern..
A total of 48 players - the top 44 from the overall qualifying standings plus the top 4 from the Desperado Squad - will qualify for the finals on Sunday, Jan. 15. No byes will be given in this tournament.
The finals are similar to the old PBA format. All 48 finalists will bowl 8 games starting from scratch to cut to the top 16 who will advance to the match play portion with the pinfall of Round 1 being carried forward
Those 16 will bowl 15 games of round robin match play. Players earn 30 bonus pins for each match won and 15 points for a tied match. The top 4 players after 23 games including bonus will determine the champion in a traditional stepladder final.
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, the 12.000 Euro top prize and 150 ranking points.