Ronnie Russell rises to the top in Brunswick Ballmaster Open

    01/13/12

    2012 European Bowling Tour #1

    PBAers set the tone in Thursday's qualifying; cut for 44th place is now 1272 (212 avg.)

    201112PBARonnieRussell.jpg201112PBA05DominicBarrett2.jpgMembers of the Professional Bowlers Association set the tone in Thursday's qualifying of the Brunswick Ballmaster Open, the opening event of both the 2012 European Bowling Tour and the 2012 World Bowling Tour, which is underway at Tali Bowl in Helsinki, Finland.

    PBA exempt player Ronnie Russell (pictured left), United States, moved to the top of the 349-player leaderboard with 1423 six-game total and an average of 237.17. Russell, a three-time regional champion who is still looking for his first national title, led Squad 9 on Thursday evening behind games of 224, 277, 214, 204, 248 and 256.

    Previous leader Kert Truus, Estonia, fell one spot to second place with 1405. Another three PBA champions cracked the top 10 in Squad 9. Dominic Barrett (above right), England, who led the EBT rankings in the 2010 season, used a tournament high 290 game to leap into third place with 1400.

    2011EBT17StuartWilliams3.jpg2012EBT01PetteriSalonen.jpgHis compatriot Stuart Williams (left), the 2007 World Ranking Masters champion, was 15 pins behind with 1385, good for seventh place overall. Two-time defending champion, and reigning PBA Player of the Year, Mika Koivuniemi, Finland, had 1360 to round out the top 10 with seven squads to go.

    Four-time PBA champion Sean Rash, United States, slipped to fourth place with 1385. Petteri Salonen (right) is the top Finnish bowler in fifth place with 1393. The Finns are targeting to extend their winning streak in the 42nd Ballmaster Open to 16. The last non-Finnish winner was Norway's Tore Torgersen in 1996.

    2012EBT01RobertAndersson.jpg201112PBA05OskuPalermaa2.jpgTwo-time world champion Robert Andersson (left), Sweden, paced the eighth qualifying squad Thursday afternoon with 1386 including five games between 229 and 238 and a low game of 212 to move into sixth place in the overall standings.

    PBA champion and four-time EBT ranking champion, Osku Palermaa (right), Finland, was next to Andersson with 1368, good for ninth place overall.

    Rounding out the top 10 is Palermaa's compatriot Perttu Jussila in eighth place with 1375.

    201112PBAParkerBohn.jpg201112PBAChrisBarnes.jpgAnother seven Americans are currently above the cut line. Tom Hess and Dino Castillo sit in 11th and 12th place with 1356 and 1354, respectively. PBA and USBC Hall of Famer Parker Bohn III (left) is 17th with 1337 and is followed by 13-time PBA champ Tommy Jones in 19th place with 1325.

    Fresh off his victory in the 32nd AIK International Tournament, 13-time PBA titlist Chris Barnes (right) had a high series of 1296 in 29th place. PBA exempt player Chris Loschetter is 32nd with 1282 and rounding out the Americans in the top 44 is U.S. Open champion Bill O'Neill in 39th place with 1277.

    2011BWCSandraAndersson2.jpg2011SSST05KarlWahlgren.jpgThree out of 30 women of the 349 players from 12countries are among the top 44. Sandra Andersson (left), Sweden, is the top-ranked woman in 30th place with 1295 including 48 pins handicap. Daria Kovalova, Ukraine, is one place and 12 pins behind in 31st place with 1283.

    Finland's Marjo Pöntinen sits in 34th place with 1281. Swedish national team member Karl Wahlgren (right), who has won the Super Six Tour's VBS Super Star Shoot-out last week is the "man on the bubble" in 44th place with 1272 and an average of 212.

    Qualifying continues on Friday with Squads 10, 11 and 12 at 11 a.m., 3 and 7 p.m. local time (CET -1).

    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.jpg 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,.

     


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    2012 Brunswick Ballmaster Open - Qualifying Standings after Squad 9/16


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

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