Strong finish propels Joonas Jehkinen into seventh place in Brunswick Euro Challenge qualifying

    03/24/12

    2012 European Bowling Tour #4

    Finn shoots 1464 in Squad 20; Alexandre Vahidi leads second consecutive Midnight squad; Norm Duke is on the bubble with 1338 (223 avg.)

    2012EBT04JoonasJehkinen.jpg201112PBATomHess.jpgJoonas Jehkinen (pictured left) became the second consecutive Finnish squad leader in the Brunswick Euro Challenge when he averaged 244 over six games in Squad 20 Friday night at Plaza Bowling Saint Maximin in suburban Paris, France.

    Jehkinen rolled games of 256, 243, 217 and 204 before he finished with high games of 265 and 279. His 1464 pinfall total propelled the Finn into seventh place in the overall qualifying standings. Compatriot Joonas Jähi, who led Squad 19 with 1398 slipped one spot to 20th place.

    Tom Hess (right), United States, continued to lead the field of 380 players, 75 women and 305 men, from 33 countries with 1533 and an average of 255.50.

    2012EBT04MartinLarsen2.jpg2012EBT04DennisEklund.jpgHess' compatriots Dino Castillo (1531), Mike Fagan (1514), and Sean Rash (1488) sit in second to fourth place. Stuart Williams of England is the top non-U.S. bowler in fifth place with 1475. Jehkinen and 10th place Anders Lousdal (1439), Denmark, are the only non-PBA players among the top 14.

    Swede Martin Larsen (left), who led Squad 18 Friday sits in 12th place with 1426. The top 12 at the end of today will earn one bye for the finals on Sunday.

    Another three players of Squad 20 moved into the top 52, who will survive qualifying. Thanks to opening games of 269, 234 and 255 Dennis Eklund (right), Sweden, was second to Jehkinen with 1384 en route to leap into 29th place overall.

    2012EBT04PascalWinternheimer.jpg2012EBT04ChrisLoschetter.jpgPascal Winternheimer (left), Germany, used high games of 254 and 258 for 1356 series to take over 44th place. Chris Loschetter (right), United States, chalked up 1345 pins to move into 50th place. His compatriots, PBA Hall of Famers Del Ballard Jr. and Norm Duke slipped to 51st and 52nd place with 1341 and 1338, respectively.

    For the second consecutive night, Alexandre Vahidi, Iran, led the Midnight squad. After finishing Squad 16 with 1158, Vahidi improved by 123 pins last night to leap into 105th place with 1281.

    Qualifying continues on Saturday with Squads 22-25 scheduled for 8. a.m., noon, 4 and 8 p.m. CET and concludes with the Desperado Squad slated for 11.30 p.m.

    Photo Gallery Part 1 Photos Beat Grauwiler/Bowlingdigital.com.

    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 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.

    The live stream of the stepladder finals of the World Bowling Tour's WTBA International Open, which was contested Wednesday, March 20th at Plaza St. Maximim, can be found here.

    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.

     


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    Qualifying Standings after Squad 21/25


    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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