Nino Stenko leads opening squad of the Croatia Open 2012

    04/10/12

    2012 European Bowling Tour #5

    Slovenian averages 229 to set the tone at Bowling 300 in Zagreb,

    2011EBT07NinoStenko2.jpg

    2012EBT04DirkVolkel.jpgNino Stenko (pictured left) of Slovenia posted a 1375 six-game series in a full opening squad featuring 36 players from Croatia, Germany, Hungary, Slovenia and Switzerland en route to take the early lead in the Croatia Open 2012 on Easter Monday.

    Stenko averaged 229.16 including games of 268, 225, 254, 180, 223 and 225 to lead Dirk Völkel (right), Germany, by 46 pins. Völkel used a pair of 250-plus games to take second place with 1329. Blaž Kogej, Slovenia, finished his series with 264 and 247 to land in third place with 1310.

    Anze Grabrijan, Slovenia, rebounded from a 155 opening game with 208, 256, 237, 226 and 218 for 1300 on the nose, good for fourth place. Rounding out the top 5 was another Slovenian, Peter Verdnik, with 1267.

    Marko Špiljar was the best local bowler in sixth place with 1255. His compatriots Zoran Banjac and Dario Miculinić were close behind in seventh and eighth place with 1248 and 1246, respectively.

    Maja Debenec, Slovenia, was the best of six women in ninth place with 1237 including 48 pins women's handicap. Damir Branezac, Switzerland, rolled the highest game of the squad (269) to help grab 10th place with 1218.

    Qualifying continues on Tuesday, April 10, with Squad 2 slated for 6 p.m. CEST.

    2012EBT05CroatiaOpenLogo_small.jpg The Croatia Open 2012 is a newcomer on the European Bowling Tour and the fifth event on the 2012 EBT Schedule. It is the second of seven EBT "Satellite" tournaments this season, the lowest of four EBT categories. The tournament will be held from Monday, April 9 through Sunday, April 15, 2012 at 18-lane Bowling 300 in Zagreb, the biggest bowling center in Croatia.

    The Croatia Open 2012 offers total prize fund of 21.000 Euro with 5.000 Euro going to the winner, 2.500 to the runner-up and 1.250 Euro a piece for the third and fourth place finishers, respectively. The highest local finisher will receive a 400 Euro bonus.

    Qualifying (6 games, unlimited re-entries) runs through Saturday, April 14 with the final qualifying Squad 11 scheduled for 6 p.m. CEST. Women receive 8 pins handicap each game, a standard on the European Bowling Tour.

    A total of 48 players will advance to the single-elimination finals on Sunday, April 15. The top 16 qualifiers will receive one bye. In each round, the highest seeded player will bowl the lowest seeded player, the second-highest will bowl the second-lowest seeded players, etc.

    The round of 48, 32 and 16 will be contested in best-of-three games format, while the quarterfinal and semifinal matches as well as the title match will be decided in a single game.

    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 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 such as the Croatia Open 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.

     


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    Qualifying Standings after Squad 1/11