Eklund beats Gruffman in all-Swedish affair to win his third EBT title in Croatia Open

    04/16/12

    2012 European Bowling Tour #5

    Slovenian Maja Debenec becomes first multiple women's ranking winner this season

    2012EBT04DennisEklund.jpg

    2012SWENCJamesGruffman2.jpgDennis Eklund (pictured left) defeated compatriot James Gruffman (right) in an all-Swedish affair, 247-181, to win his third career European Bowling Tour title in the Croatia Open 2012 Sunday at bowling center 300 in Zagreb

    Eklund, who has won the 2007 Vienna Open and the 2010 Hammer Bronzen Schietspoel Tournament, pocketed 5.000 Euro for the feat. Gruffman, who missed another milestone in his career after winning the Swedish National Championship a week ago, had to settle for second place, worth 2.500 Euro.

    In the semifinals, the two Swedes defeated two Russians for the right to bowl for the title.

    2011EBT17AlexanderMedveditskov.jpgGruffman, seeded 15th in the single-elimination finals of the top 48 qualifiers, eliminated No. 3 Andrey Suslov, 228-178, while Eklund, seeded sixth, survived a close encounter against No. 4 Alexander Medveditskov (left), 193-182. Suslov and Medveditskov earned 1.250 Euro apiece for third and fourth place.

    Qualifying leader Daniel Vezis of Latvia, was eliminated in the Round of 32 by local bowler Tomislav Sekulić, two-games-to-one, to finish in 17th place.

    2012EBT05MajaDebenec.jpgMaja Debenec (right) of Slovenia was the highest woman in 29th place to become the first multiple women's ranking winner this season. Debenec was also the best woman in the 6th International Wroclaw Open in February.

    2012EBT05CroatiaOpenLogo_small.jpg The Croatia Open 2012 was a newcomer on the European Bowling Tour and the fifth event on the 2012 EBT Schedule. It was the second of seven EBT "Satellite" tournaments this season, the lowest of four EBT categories. The tournament was 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 offered 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 received a 400 Euro bonus.

    Qualifying (6 games, unlimited re-entries) featured eleven squads and ran through Saturday, April 14. Women received 8 pins handicap each game, a standard on the European Bowling Tour.

    The top 48 players advanced to the single-elimination finals on Sunday, April 15. The top 16 qualifiers received one bye. In each round of the finals, the highest seeded player bowled the lowest seeded player, the second-highest bowled the second-lowest seeded players, etc.

    The round of 48, 32 and 16 were contested in best-of-three games format, while the quarterfinal and semifinal matches as well as the title match were 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.

    The 2012 European Bowling Tour is in Slovenia next week for the 6th QubicaAMF Open 2012, the second EBT "Silver" event this season, which will be staged at Gladiator Arena in Ljubljana from April 17 to 22.

     


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    Croatia Open 2012


    Bowling 300 in Zagreb, Croatia (April 9-15, 2012)

    Championship Round:
    1. Dennis Eklund, Sweden, 5.000 Euro
    2. James Gruffman, Sweden, 2.500 Euro
    3. Andrey Suslov, Russia, 1.250 Euro
    4. Alexander Medveditskov, Russia, 1.250 Euro
    5. Christian Karlsson, Slovenia, 600 Euro
    6. Jeroen Grove, Netherlands, 600 Euro
    7. Dirk Völkel, Germany, 600 Euro
    8. Paul Stott, Ireland, 600 Euro

    Quarterfinals
    #15 James Gruffman, Sweden, def. #2 Christian Karlsson, Slovenia, 227-223
    #3 Andrey Suslov, Russia, def. #13 Paul Stott, Ireland, 215-19ß
    #4 Alexander Medveditskov, Russia, def. #10 Dirk Völkel, Germany, 214-176
    #6 Dennis Eklund, Sweden, def.. #7 Jeroen Grove, Netherlands, 239-216

    Semifinals
    #15 James Gruffman, Sweden, def. #3 Andrey Suslov, Russia, 228-178
    #6 Dennis Eklund, Sweden, def. #4 Alexander Medveditskov, Russia, 193-182

    Championship
    #6 Dennis Eklund, Sweden, def. #15 James Gruffman, Sweden, 247-181.

     


    Places 9-48 (Cashers)


    9. Blaž Kogej, Slovenia, 300 Euro
    10. Marshal Ross Crider, United States, 300 Euro
    11. Nico D\'Achille, Italy, 300 Euro
    12. Mitja Mrzlikar, Slovenia, 300 Euro
    13. Benjamin Kubalek, Austria, 300 Euro
    14. Zoran Banjac, Croatia, 300 Euro
    15. Janez Kovač, Slovenia, 300 Euro
    16. Tomislav Sekulić, Croatia, 300 Euro
    17. Daniel Vezis, Latvia, 200 Euro
    18. Peter Verdnik, Slovenia, 200 Euro
    19. Nino Stenko, Slovenia, 200 Euro
    20. Damir Branezac, Switzerland, 200 Euro
    21. Milan Malek, Slovenia, 200 Euro
    22. Bojan Kovac, Slovenia, 200 Euro
    23. Dusan Lajovic, Slovenia, 200 Euro
    24. Anze Grabrijan, Slovenia, 200 Euro
    25. Saša Petković, Croatia, 200 Euro
    26. Miše Mrkonjic, Croatia, 200 Euro
    27. Alessio Maniero, Italy, 200 Euro
    28. Dario Miculinić, Croatia, 200 Euro
    29. *Maja Debenec, Slovenia, 200 Euro
    30. Gergely Kapronczay, Hungary, 200 Euro
    31. Vytautas Gykis, Lithuania, 200 Euro
    32. Božo Nagode, Slovenia, 200 Euro
    33. Vedran Vedriš, Croatia, 125 Euro
    34. Stjepan Naglic, Croatia, 125 Euro
    35. Damir Brnic, Croatia, 125 Euro
    36. Marko Špiljar, Croatia, 125 Euro
    37. Fábio Merkovský, Slovakia, 125 Euro
    38. Rihard Vrenčur, Slovenia, 125 Euro
    39. Anže Lajovic, Slovenia, 125 Euro
    40. Ljubo Nedimović, Slovenia, 125 Euro
    41. Domenico Righi, San Marino, 125 Euro
    42. Marco Borgognoni, Italy, 125 Euro
    43. Aleš Badovinac, Slovenia, 125 Euro
    44. Uroš Kus, Slovenia, 125 Euro
    45. Nikolai Dimitrov, Bulgaria, 125 Euro
    46. Edvard Progar, Slovenia, 125 Euro
    47. Mateja Kerovec, Slovenia, 125 Euro
    48. Gabor Ficze, Hungary, 125 Euro

     


    Round of 16


    Single-elimination, best-of-three games. Winner advance, losers eliminated, earn 300 Euro

     


    Round of 32


    Single-elimination, best-of-three games. Winner advance, losers eliminated, earn 200 Euro. * Women's scores including 8 pins handicap.

     


    Round of 48


    Single-elimination, best-of-three games. Winner advance, losers eliminated, earn 125 Euro. * Women's scores including 8 pins handicap