Mike Fagan beats Finns Koivuniemi, Jehkinen to win the 2012 Brunswick Euro Challenge

    03/26/12

    2012 EBT #4 / 2012 WBT #7

    Captures his fourth PBA title and the 15.000 Euro top prize

    2012EBT04ChampionMikeFagan.jpg2012 USBC Masters champion and U.S. Open runner-up Mike Fagan (pictured left), United States, captured his fourth European Bowling Tour title and his fourth career PBA title when he defeated Joonas Jehkinen of Finland, 279-193, to win the 2012 Brunswick Euro Challenge in suburban Paris, France.

    Jehkinen, who earned the No. 1 seed for the three-player stepladder finals by leading the match play round of 8, had to sit and wait for the winner of the opening match between third-seeded Fagan and the "big Finn", reiging PBA Player of the Year Mika Koivuniemi.

    Fagan defeated Koivuniemi, 222-199, to advance to the title match. He started with the front nine before a 10-pin ruined his bid to roll the second 300 game of the tournament (Swede Karl Wahlgren had the only perfecto).

    Fagan received the 15.000 Euro top prize, Jehkinen received 7.500 Euro and Koivuniemi got 5.000 Euro for third place. L-R Jehkinen, Fagan and Koivuniemi. Click on the image to enlarge it.

    Mike Quarry of England dominated the first round of the finals Sunday morning at Plaza Bowling Saint Maximin featuring players ranked 13th to 64th after qualifying. Quarry had a slow start with 181 followed by 243, 279, 269, 299 and 290 (858 for the last three games) to lead the top 16 into the second round with 1561 pinfall and an average of 260.17.

    2005-06 PBA Player of the Year Tommy Jones, United States, who was one of the top 12 qualifiers who bypassed the first round, used five games between 216 and 237 and a high game of 268 to lead the second round with 1407 and an average of 234.50.

    Joining the 13-time PBA champion in the match play portion were his compatriots Sean Rash and Mike Fagan, Finns Mika Koivuniemi and Joonas Jehkinen, two Englishmen, John Wells and Stuart Williams, as well as Dennis Eklund, Sweden, who took the eighth and last spot to advance with 1354 (225.67 avg.). Quarry finished in 20th place with 1237.

    Match play consisted of seven games round robin match play (30 for each win; 15 for each tie). Jehkinen earned the No. 1 seed winning five of his sven games including a 275-267 win against Jones. He finished the round in first place with 3201 13-game total including 150 bonus pins, an average of 234.69.

     




    Archived Videos:
    BEC Award Ceremonies
    BEC Stepladder Finals
    BEC Lone 300 game by Karl Wahlgren of Sweden
    WTBA International Open Stepladder Finals

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

    2012BECLogo_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.

    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 covered the event live from Le Plaza Bowling with stories and results after each round including live streaming, high definition videos and high quality photos.

    Bowlindigital provided live streaming of the stepladder finals of the World Bowling Tour's WTBA International Open and the 2012 Brunswick Euro Challenge. ¬¬¬Go to our Ustream channel to review the broadcasts.

    BEC qualifying ran through Saturday, March. 24 and concluded with the ultimate one-game Desperado Squad. 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 qualified 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 received one bye.

    The remaining 52 finalists bowled six games scratch to cut to the top 16 who joined the top 12 qualifiers in Round Two. Those 28 bowled another six games scratch after which the field was trimmed to the top 8 players who carried 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 determined the champion in a stepladder final. The No. 3 seed bowled the No. 2 seed and the winner of the semifinal match took 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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    Brunswick Euro Challenge


    Plaza Saint Maximin in Saint Maximin, France (March 16-25, 2012)

    Championship Round:
    1. Mike Fagan, United States, 501 (2 games), 15.000 Euro
    2. Joonas Jehkinen, Finland, 193 (1 game), 7.500 Euro
    3. Mika Koivuniemi, Finland, 199 (1 game), 5.000 Euro

    Playoff Results:
    Semifinal Match: No. 3 Fagan def. No. 2 Koivuniemi, 222-199
    Championship: Fagan def. No. 1 Jehkinen, 279-193.

     


    Final Standings - Places 4-64 (cashers)


    4. Sean Rash, United States, 2.000 Euro
    5. Tommy Jones, United States, 2.000 Euro
    6. Stuart Williams, England, 2.000 Euro
    7. Dennis Eklund, Sweden, 2.000 Euro
    8. John Wells, England, 2.000 Euro
    9. Tom Hess, United States, 1.500 Euro
    10. Osku Palermaa, Finland, 1.500 Euro
    11. Adrian Ang, Malaysia, 1.500 Euro
    12. Tom Smallwood, United States, 1.500 Euro
    13. Walter Ray Williams Jr. United States, 1.500 Euro
    14. Dan MacLelland, Canada, 1.500 Euro
    15. Dominic Barrett, England, 1.500 Euro
    16. Martin Larsen, Sweden, 1.500 Euro
    17. Carolyn Dorin-Ballard, United States, 1.500 Euro
    18. Chris Barnes, United States, 1.500 Euro
    19. Anders Lousdal, Denmark, 1.500 Euro
    20. Mike Quarry, England, 1.500 Euro
    21. Michael Holzapfel, Germany, 1.500 Euro
    22. Jesper Agerbo, Denmark, 1.500 Euro
    23. Raymond Teece, England, 1.500 Euro
    24. Josh Blanchard, United States, 1.500 Euro
    25. Birgit Pöppler, Germany, 1.500 Euro
    26. Dino Castillo, United States, 1.500 Euro
    27. Thomas Larsen, Denmark, 1.500 Euro
    28. Mathias Sarmadi, France, 1.500 Euro
    29. Mikael Kanold, Sweden, 1.000 Euro
    30. Mohd Nur Aiman, Malaysia, 1.000 Euro
    31. Joonas Jähi, Finland, 1.000 Euro
    32. Zulmazran Zulkifli, Malaysia, 1.000 Euro
    33. Zandra Aziela, Malaysia, 1.000 Euro
    34. Perttu Jussila, Finland, 1.000 Euro
    35. Karl Wahlgren, Sweden, 1.000 Euro
    36. Yiannis Stathatos, Greece, 1.000 Euro
    37. Liz Johnson, United States, 1.000 Euro
    38. Sin Li Jane, Malaysia, 1.000 Euro
    39. Siti Safiyah, Malaysia, 1.000 Euro
    40. Nathan Bohr, United States, 1.000 Euro
    41. Amandine Jacques, France, 1.000 Euro
    42. Gery Verbruggen, Belgium, 1.000 Euro
    43. Syafiq Ridhwan, Malaysia, 1.000 Euro
    44. Parker Bohn III, United States, 1.000 Euro
    45. Cassie Staudinger, Australia, 1.000 Euro
    46. Paulo Vial, France, 1.000 Euro
    47. Ildemaro Ruiz, Venezuela, 1.000 Euro
    48. Mik Stampe, Denmark, 1.000 Euro
    49. Paul Moor, England, 1.000 Euro
    50. Jimmy Ravez, Belgium, 1.000 Euro
    51. Shalin Zulkifli, Malaysia, 1.000 Euro
    52. Jake Peters, United States, 1.000 Euro
    53. Esther Cheah, Malaysia, 1.000 Euro
    54. Christian Racpan, Germany, 1.000 Euro
    55. Magnus Johnson, Sweden, 1.000 Euro
    56. Peter Hellström, Sweden, 1.000 Euro
    57. Jérome Durupt, France, 1.000 Euro
    58. Khairuniza Dayang, Malaysia, 1.000 Euro
    59. Laurene Bouillier, France, 1.000 Euro
    60. Yoan Alix, France, 1.000 Euro
    61. Xavier Lotthe, France, 1.000 Euro
    62. Sami Heinila, Finland, 1.000 Euro
    63. Charis Panayiotou, Cyprus, 1.000 Euro
    64. Jonathan Lefevre, France, 1.000 Euro

     


    Final Round Three - Round Robin Match Play


    The top 3 advance to the stepladder finals Sunday at 6.30 p.m. CET. Places 4-8 eliminated, earn 2.000 Euro each.

     


    Final Round Two


    The top 8 advance to round robin match play. Places 9-28 eliminated, earn 1.500 Euro each.

     


    Final Round One


    The top 16 advance and meet the top 12 qualifiers in the second round. Places 17-52 eliminated, finish 29th through 64th, earn 1.000 Euro each.

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