PBA players take control of the leaderboard in Brunswick Euro Challenge qualifying

    03/21/12

    2012 European Bowling Tour #4

    Hess, Castillo crack the 1500-bar in Squad 9; cut for 52nd place is now 1228

    2012EBT04TomHess.jpg2012EBT04DinoCastillo.jpgShort after landing at Paris Charles de Gaulle airport, four PBA players from the United States, who have competed in the Kuwait Open last week, took control of the leaderboard in the Brunswick Euro Challenge Monday evening at Plaza Saint Maximin in Saint Maximin, France.

    2011 USBC masters champion Tom Hess (pictured left) and PBA exempt player and former WTBA World Champion (Trios, 2003 in Malaysia) Dino Castillo (right) cracked the 1500-bar, while four-time PBA champion Sean Rash and 13-time titlist Tommy Jones surpassed the 1400-mark.

    Hess had four games in the 250s, a high game of 289 and a low game of 221 to shoot into the lead with 1533 pinfall and an average of 255.50. Castillo closed out his series with 277, 264 and 276 (817) to move into second place with 1531.

    2012EBT04SeaRash.jpg2011BWCTommyJones3.jpgRash (left) came out of the gates quickly with 279 followed by three 250s, then suffered a sub-par game (194) and finished with 245 to take over third place with 1488.

    Jones (right) started his fourth game with eleven strikes but got four pins only on his last shot. The 294 helped the PBA Player of the Year 2005-06 to grab fourth place with 1420.

    Previous Jimmy Ravez, Belgium, slipped to fifth place with 1396. Amandine Jacques remained the top French bowler and the best of 27 women in sixth place with 1386 including 8 pins handicap each game, a standard for women on the European Bowling Tour.

    2012EBT04WalterRayWilliams2.jpg2012EBT04FrancoisSacco.jpgSeventh place belongs to four-time European Bowling Tour point ranking winner, Gery Verbruggen, Belgium, with 1375.

    Seven-time PBA Player of the Year Walter Ray Williams Jr. (left), United States, had six games between 209 and 247 to leap into eighth place with 1357. Long-time French international, Francois Sacco (right) was one pin behind in ninth place with 1356 including high games of 277 and 257.

    Ron van den Bogaard, Netherlands, currently holds the 52nd and last place to advance to finals with 1228 and an average of 204.67. Qualifying continues on Wednesday, March 21, with Squads 10 and 11 scheduled for 5 and 9 p.m. CET.

    2011EBT17ClaraGuerrero2_small.jpg The Brunswick Euro Challenge is the fourth tournament on the 2012 European Bowling Tour schedule and one of only two "Platinum" events, the EBT's highest category. The BEC is also the seventh event of the 2012 World Bowling Tour and the second of three WBT events in Europe this season. Colombia's Clara Juliana Guerrero (left) is the defending champion.

    The tournament will be held from March 16-25 at 28-laner Le Plaza Bowling in Saint Maximin near Paris, France and offers total prize money of 106.000 Euro, approximately US $140,000 with 15.000 Euro going to the winner, 7.500 Euro to the runner-up and 5.000 Euro to the third place finisher.

    ValckeBowling.jpg BowlingdigitalBanner.gif The 2012 Brunswick Euro Challenge is organized and conducted by Brunswick distributor Valcke Bowling. Bowlingdigital.com will cover the event live from Le Plaza Bowling with stories and results after each round including live streaming, high definition videos and high quality photos.

    Live streaming starts with the stepladder finals of the WTBA International Open Wednesday, March 21st at 3.30 p.m. Central European Time (10.30 a.m. EST; 10.30 p.m. Hong Kong time). Live streaming of the 2012 Brunswick Euro Challenge stepladder finals starts on Sunday, March 25th at 6.30 p.m. Central European Time (12.30 p.m. EST; 12.30 a.m. on the 26th Hong Kong time). The award ceremonies are scheduled for 7.30 p.m. CET.

    2012BECLogo_small.jpg BEC qualifying runs through Saturday, March. 24 with the final Squad 25 slated for 8 p.m. Qualifying concludes with the ultimate one-game Desperado Squad at 11.30 p.m. Women will receive 8 pins handicap each game throughout the entire event, a standard for women on the European Bowling Tour.

    A total of 64 players will qualify for the finals on Sunday, March 25, the top 52 in the overall qualifying standings, the top 8 of a separate leaderboard of the squads conducted March 16-19 plus the top 4 of the Desperado Squad. The top 12 qualifiers will receive one bye.

    The remaining 52 finalists will bowl six games scratch to cut to the top 16 who will join the top 12 qualifiers in Round Two. Those 28 will bowl another six games scratch after which the field will be trimmed to the top 8 players who will carry their pinfall total forward into the match play round.

    After seven games round robin match play (30 for each win; 15 for each tie) the top 3 players will determine the champion in a stepladder final. The No. 3 seed bowls the No. 2 seed and the winner of the semifinal match takes on the No. 1 seed for the title, and the 15.00 Euro top prize.

    2012EBTLogo_small.jpg The 2012 European Bowling Tour is made up of 21 events in 16 countries including two Platinum, four Gold, eight Silver and seven Satellite tournaments.

    The top 50 men and the top 50 women in each event earn ranking points based on how they finish in the event. The winner of a Platinum tournament such as the Brunswick Euro Challenge 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.

    Those points will be tabulated throughout the season to determine the top 16 men and top 16 women who will compete in the sixth EBT Masters in Bratislava, Slovakia in Sept. 2013.

    2012 European Bowling Tour Rankings
    EBT Women's Ranking
    EBT Men's Ranking

    WBTLogo_small.jpgThe ninth edition of the Brunswick Euro Challenge is also the seventh event of the 2012 World Bowling Tour organized by the World Tenpin Bowling Association. After the Bahamas Classic has been postponed the 2012 WBT consists of 13 tournaments in America, Asia, Europe and Australia - five in the United States and one each in Australia, Austria, 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.

    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.

    World Bowling Tour Rankings
    WBT Women's Ranking
    WBT Men's Ranking

    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.

     


    Related Articles


    The top 8 players of Squads 1-8 are automatically qualified for the finals
    Jimmy Ravez, Amandine Jacques take over lead in Brunswick Euro Challenge
    Gery Verbruggen sets the tone in 2012 Brunswick Euro Challenge
    Live Coverage of the EBT/WBT Brunswick Euro Challenge from Plaza Saint Maximin, France
    2012 European Bowling Tour Schedule
    2012 World Bowling Tour Schedule

     


    Qualifying Standings after Squad 9/25


    The top 52 in the overall qualifying standings, the top 8 of a separate leaderboard of the squads 1-8 (places 53-60) plus the top 4 of the Desperado Squad (places 61-64) will advance to the finals. The top 12 qualifiers will receive one bye.

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