Petteri Salonen takes early lead in 42nd Brunswick Ballmaster Open

    01/08/12

    2012 European Bowling Tour #1

    EBT Gold tournament kicks off 2012 World and European Bowling Tour

    2012EBTLogo_small.jpg WBTLogo_small.jpg The Brunswick Ballmaster Open kicked off both the 2012 World Bowling Tour and the 2012 European Bowling Tour season when the 42nd edition of Europe's most prestigious tournament got underway on Friday evening at Tali Bowling Center in Helsinki, Finland.

    Long-time Finnish national team member Petteri Salonen (below left) took the early lead with 1393 six-game total and an average of 232.17. The multiple European champion posted games of 210, 246, 279, 196, 235 and 227 in the "Early Bird" Squad 1 on Friday evening to lead compatriot Panu Nurmilo by 39 pins.

    2011EBT04PeteriSalonen1.jpgNurmilo, who paced Squad 3 with 1354 (225.67), has an eleven-pin lead over Pasi Uotila, one of four three-time Ballmaster Open winners (Simo Vähäkorpela, Lasse Lintilä, and two-time defending champion, Mika Koivuniemi, are the others). Uotila, who won the tournament in 2009, 2004 and 2000, was third with 1343 (223.83).

    2011WWCDariaKovalova.jpgVesa Villman, Finland, who led the second of 16 qualifying squads on Saturday, which was reserved for players with an average of 185 or lower, sits in 18th place with 1254 (209.00).

    Daria Kovalova (right), Ukraine, was the best of ten women in the field in 27th place with 1242 including 48 pins handicap.

    With 150 players - 146 Finns, two Dutch and two Ukrainian bowlers - in the books, 1995 Ballmaster Open champion Kai Virtanen, Finland, holds the 44th and last place to advance to the finals with 1187 and an average of 197.83. Last year's cutoff number was 1345 (224.17).

    Qualifying continues on Sunday with Squad 4 at 11 a.m. local time (CET -1), which is reserved for "Senior" bowlers (over 50), and Squad 5 at 3 p.m., which is reserved for "Youth" bowlers.

    2012BallmasterLogo_small.jpg The 42nd Brunswick Ballmaster Open is the first of five "EBT Gold" events, the second-highest EBT category, in the 2012 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.

    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.

    2011EBT01KristaPollanen_small.jpg201112PBAMikaKoivuniemi_small.jpg 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.

    2012EBTLogo_small.jpg 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.

    WBTLogo_small.jpgThe 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,.

     


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    2012 Brunswick Ballmaster Open - Qualifying Standings after Squad 3/16


    The top 44 plus the top 4 from the Desperado Squad will qualify for the finals on Sunday, Jan. 15.

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