Dave Wodka wins Squad 5 to earn berth in the finals of the WTBA International Open

    01/31/12

    2012 World Bowling Tour #3

    Mika Koivuniemi holds on to lead qualifying with 1448 total

    2012IntlOpenDaveWodka.jpg201112PBAMikaKoivuniemi.jpgFormer PBA champion Dave Wodka (pictured left) led Monday's qualifying squad 5 en route to earn berth into the finals of the WTBA International Open which will start on Super Bowl Sunday, Feb. 5 at Noon Pacific.

    Wodka, whose lone PBA title came in the 1999 Greater Detroit Open, lives in Henderson, Nev. where the host Strike Zone Bowling Center is located inside Sunset Station Hotel and Casino. He had games of 220, 209, 278, 224, 245 and 177 on the WTBA Atlanta oil conditioning pattern for 1353 six-game total and an average of 225.50.

    Reigning PBA Player of the Year and current World Bowling Tour men's point ranking leader Mika Koivuniemi (above right) of Finland remained in the lead with 1448 and an average of 241.33.

    2010 USBC Open Championships All Events winner Matt McNiel, United States, was second with 1429 and was by Liz Johnson, who was the best of four women in the field 1416 including 36 pins handicap.

    2012IntlOpenNikitaKoshelev.jpg2012IntlOpenShannonPluhowsky.jpgRounding out the top five were four-time PBA champion Mike Wolfe (left) and Lucas Legnani, Argentina, with 1391 and 1389, respectively. Wodka leaped into sixth place while one-time PBA champion Ryan Ciminelli slipped to seventh with 1343.

    Four-time Women's World Champion Shannon Pluhowsky (left) battled Wodka for the lead in Squad 5 but fell 20 pins short to two sub-par games in the fourth and sixth. The newly elected WBW Bowler of the Year totaled 1333 pins including handicap to sit in eighth place in the overall standings.

    Rounding out the top 10 were 13-time PBA champion Chris Barnes and Adam Barta with 1327 and 1325, respectively.

    Nikita Koshelev (above right) of Russia was third in Squad 5 to move into 17th place with 1248, one pin ahead of PBA and USBC Hall of Famer Walter Ray Williams Jr., who had 1247.

    2012LVInternationalOpenLogo2_small.jpg The WTBA International Open, the first World Tenpin Bowling Association owned and operated event, is the third stop of the 2012 World Bowling Tour and runs concurrently with The International Mini from Jan. 28 through Feb. 5.

    BowlingdigitalBanner.gif Bowlingdigital will cover the WTBA International Open and The International Mini live from Sunset Station's Strike Zone Bowling Center in Las Vegas all the way through to the finals on Feb. 5, 2012.

    The third event, the USBC Masters, concluded on Sunday morning. Jan. 29. All three events, which offer a total combined prize fund of approximately $500,000, have a special additional prize fund of $30,000 available to those who compete in all three events.

    The WTBA International Open features a European-style re-entry format. There will be 19 qualifying squads and bowlers may compete on any squad to try to post their best six-game total. The 20th and last squad to qualify for the finals is the ultimate one-game Desperado Squad on Saturday afternoon, Feb. 4. Women receive six pins handicap per game.

    Remaining Squad Times
    Monday, January 30 at 1:30 p.m.
    Tuesday, January 31 at 9 a.m. and 1:30 p.m.
    Wednesday, February 1 at 9 a.m., 1:30 p.m., and 9 p.m.
    Thursday, February 2 at 9 a.m., 1:30 p.m., and 9 p.m.
    Friday, February 3 at 9 a.m., 1:30 p.m., and 6 p.m.
    Saturday, February 4 at 9 a.m., 1:30 p.m. and 6 p.m. (Desperado Squad)
    New: Sunday, February 5 - Finals starting at Noon.

    After the conclusion of the qualifying, total 48 players will qualify for the finals - the top 44 qualifiers including the squad leaders from all Monday and Tuesday squads (two each; earn automatic berths into the finals) along with four bowlers from the one-game Desperado Squad at the end of qualifying.

    Qualifiers in positions 1-8 get two byes, while qualifiers 9-16 will bypass the first round of the finals. All qualifying pinfall will be dropped.

    The remaining 32 players (qualifiers 17-48) bowl 6 games scratch across 12 lanes with the top 16 based on total pinfall advancing to Round 2. The top 16 high qualifiers from Round 1 plus qualifiers 9-16 bowl another six-game block. The top 8 meet the top 8 qualifiers in Round 3.

    Those 16 bowl a final six-game block to cut to the top 3, who will advance to the stepladder finals to be held in St. Maximin near Paris, France, on March 25, 2012.

    The three finalists earn an expenses-paid trip to suburban Paris for the stepladder finals, which will be held in conjunction with the Brunswick Euro Challenge, the seventh stop of the 2012 World Bowling Tour, which takes place at Plaza Saint Maximin from March 16-25. Bowlingdigital will cover the BEC live from Plaza Bowl.

    The WTBA International Open features a guaranteed prize fund of $100,000 with $20,000 going to the winner and $10,000 and $8,000 to the second and third place finishers, resp.

    For more information on the WTBA 2012 International Open please click here
    WBTLogo.jpg The 2012 World Bowling Tour 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.

    Players earn ranking points based on how they finish in each event. The current points system is based on a continuous two-year cycle, so points earned in 2011 are added to points earned in 2012 to determine the points list.

    World Bowling Tour Rankings - Complete Standings as of January 29, 2012
    WBT Women's Ranking
    WBT Men's Ranking

    The top three men and top three women will be invited to compete in the World Bowling Tour Finals presented by the Professional Bowlers Association at the end of 2012 featuring total prize fund of $70,000.

    The World Tenpin Bowling Association, which is made up of 115 bowling federations, governs the sport throughout the world. For more information on WTBA and the World Bowling Tour, visit WorldTenpinBowling.com.

     


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    Standings after Qualifying Squad 5/19


    * indicates leaders of squads 5-8, who earn automatic berths into the finals.

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