Local bowlers set the tone on the first day of qualifying in the Storm Irish Open Tenpin Bowling Championships Thursday at Leisureplex Stillorgan in Dublin, Ireland.

The 25th edition of the event kicks off the 50th Anniversary Year of the Irish Tenpin Bowling Association (ITBA) in Stillorgan Bowl, which is the center that started bowling in Ireland.

More than 160 bowlers from 14 countries are expected to bowl in the tournament which offers total prize fund of 17.500 Euro with 4.000 Euro going to the men's champion and 1.000 Euro to the women's champion.

Matt Hann (right) rolled games of 247, 238, 280, 247, 248 and 278 to lead the men's division after four qualifying squads with 1538 and an average of 256.33. Hann holds a 69-pin lead over second-place Barry Foley (below left), who toppled 1449 pins.

Third place belonged to Simon English with 1456 followed by Graham Turner and Alan Gibbons (right) in fourth and fifth place with 1427 and 1406, respectively.

Marco Landman, Netherlands, was the best foreign bowler so far with 1405, good for sixth place.

The women's division was an all-Irish affair with Aimee Kellegher leading the ten ladies with 1336 including games of 235, 233, 187, 223, 222 and 236. With an average of 222.67, Kellegher outaveraged her nearest competitor, Kerena Dykes by more than eight pins.

Dykes was second with 1286 with Amanda Larkin in third place with 1282 and Hannah Cullen in fourth place with 1245.

Qualifying continues Friday with Squads 5-9 and concludes with the Desperado Squad starting at 11.30 p.m. local time. The top 96 men and the top 24 women will advance to Saturday's second round.

 

Men's Qualifying - Standings after Squad 4/9

Pos	Player	Country	Squad	G1	G2	G3	G4	G5	G6	Pins	Avg.
1.	Matt Hann	Ireland	4	247	238	280	247	248	278	1538	256.33
2.	Barry Foley	Ireland	2	279	255	212	227	278	218	1469	244.83
3.	Simon English	Ireland	3	223	211	229	246	289	258	1456	242.67
4.	Graham Turner	Ireland	3	241	236	202	269	236	243	1427	237.83
5.	Alan Gibbons	Ireland	1	237	246	248	212	247	216	1406	234.33
6.	Marco Landman	Netherlands	3	176	257	254	215	247	256	1405	234.17
7.	Nickey O'Malley	Ireland	1	225	295	213	221	223	228	1405	234.17
8.	Hadley Morgan	England	3	225	257	212	248	190	267	1399	233.17
9.	Grant Dugan	N. Ireland	4	235	237	268	226	247	184	1397	232.83
10.	Alan Bride	Ireland	4	235	210	236	247	235	232	1395	232.50
11.	Bob Daly	Ireland	1	161	257	225	254	238	244	1379	229.83
12.	Stephen Gill	Scotland	3	225	219	237	215	246	235	1377	229.50
13.	Aaron Mayland	Ireland	4	181	213	248	278	236	214	1370	228.33
14.	Paul Green	Wales	2	234	193	244	247	204	246	1368	228.00
15.	Svein Roger Olsen	Norway	2	178	215	237	248	247	236	1361	226.83
16.	Peter Sampson	England	4	204	246	233	208	259	206	1356	226.00
17.	Barry Brown	Ireland	1	247	184	266	235	204	216	1352	225.33
18.	Martin Olsen	Norway	2	226	200	223	223	222	255	1349	224.83
19.	Billy Nimick	N. Ireland	2	225	235	244	223	203	212	1342	223.67
20.	Darragh McLoughlin	Ireland	4	189	258	215	215	237	219	1333	222.17
21.	Jason Byrnes	Ireland	2	247	216	161	243	227	234	1328	221.33
22.	Elco Gorter	Netherlands	2	202	248	255	189	224	206	1324	220.67
23.	Sigbjorn Eide	Norway	3	236	226	236	243	201	180	1322	220.33
24.	Martin Williamson	Scotland	3	248	211	221	236	212	193	1321	220.17
25.	Karl Peter Greulich	Germany	2	223	260	206	199	209	219	1316	219.33
26.	Stephen O Connor	Ireland	4	237	243	239	180	211	201	1311	218.50
27.	Anthony Delahanty	United States	3	186	254	248	225	201	194	1308	218.00
28.	Alan McDonnell	Ireland	1	235	212	193	222	200	243	1305	217.50
29.	Brian Gillespie	Scotland	3	268	164	216	205	232	215	1300	216.67
30.	Mathew Kestell	Ireland	4	236	240	222	209	211	179	1297	216.17
31.	Terry Bride	Ireland	2	204	257	205	199	248	182	1295	215.83
32.	Chris Sloan	Ireland	4	156	162	202	252	285	231	1288	214.67
33.	Gary Redpath	Scotland	3	208	225	170	226	226	217	1272	212.00
34.	Alan Meades	England	3	194	199	196	225	238	217	1269	211.50
35.	Tom Nilsen	Norway	3	224	214	227	160	214	225	1264	210.67
36.	Tom Byrne	Ireland	2	180	174	191	213	258	238	1254	209.00
37.	John Wilson	Ireland	1	181	224	239	212	212	186	1254	209.00
38.	Fran Puzzuoli	Ireland	4	207	185	209	180	234	234	1249	208.17
39.	Gavin Fox	Ireland	4	227	215	189	233	194	185	1243	207.17
40.	Ciaran Mullally	Ireland	4	168	200	229	213	239	190	1239	206.50
41.	Asbjorn Lien	Norway	4	244	172	210	221	219	172	1238	206.33
42.	Dennis Knijff	Netherlands	2	212	214	177	202	243	183	1231	205.17
43.	Ashley Iacona	England	4	167	166	234	225	215	216	1223	203.83
44.	Ryan Press	N. Ireland	3	235	170	214	201	183	217	1220	203.33
45.	Jonathan Cools	Belgium	1	246	236	180	186	174	194	1216	202.67
46.	Dave English	Ireland	4	162	232	178	244	181	217	1214	202.33
47.	Oivind B Nordhagen	Norway	3	179	208	180	151	234	255	1207	201.17
48.	Miles Corney	England	4	172	246	180	200	198	211	1207	201.17
49.	Jos Bakker	Netherlands	2	239	176	219	213	163	179	1189	198.17
50.	Paul Kuijer	Netherlands	1	200	162	184	168	232	241	1187	197.83
51.	Robert Lind	Norway	3	191	212	182	201	184	209	1179	196.50
52.	Bard Jensen	Norway	3	169	146	194	212	219	235	1175	195.83
53.	Gerard Lee	Ireland	1	208	211	181	178	226	167	1171	195.17
54.	Tom Cato Lai	Norway	2	179	167	181	214	222	204	1167	194.50
55.	Erik Garder	Norway	3	206	245	176	190	169	179	1165	194.17
56.	Frode Olaussen	Norway	3	160	176	200	180	256	181	1153	192.17
57.	Alex Fraser	Scotland	4	166	183	164	216	256	164	1149	191.50
58.	Mark Hutton	Scotland	3	180	225	206	181	176	177	1145	190.83
59.	Michael Colijn	Netherlands	2	194	227	188	150	193	191	1143	190.50
60.	Frank Byrnes	Ireland	3	193	190	203	203	180	170	1139	189.83
61.	Jurgen Van Wuytswinkel	Belgium	3	192	184	163	167	191	229	1126	187.67
62.	Victor Rock	Ireland	4	180	149	215	181	179	214	1118	186.33
63.	Bill Bulasag	Ireland	4	198	173	216	176	189	166	1118	186.33
64.	Dan Stricker	United States	3	139	236	193	180	202	167	1117	186.17
65.	Leen De Lijster	Netherlands	4	133	189	182	182	234	193	1113	185.50
66.	Geir Anseth	Norway	1	165	185	170	164	225	186	1095	182.50
67.	Eoin McLoughlin	Ireland	4	189	185	199	163	197	161	1094	182.33
68.	David Angus	Scotland	4	131	211	213	195	159	178	1087	181.17
69.	Peter Lilburn	N. Ireland	3	187	168	171	177	189	189	1081	180.17
70.	Marco Biondi	Scotland	4	213	202	175	165	159	158	1072	178.67
71.	Ray Byrne	Ireland	3	154	180	162	213	144	211	1064	177.33
72.	Willem Van Hemert	Netherlands	4	201	178	223	139	178	140	1059	176.50
73.	Hans Chr. Faergestad	Norway	2	144	205	178	178	150	198	1053	175.50
74.	Terje Andresen	Norway	2	190	159	143	141	180	167	980	163.33
75.	Jim Rutherford	Wales	1	180	138	192	154	146	154	964	160.67
76.	Robert Rutherford	Scotland	3	144	141	162	148	162	195	952	158.67
77.	Ivar Otto Gjerdrum	Norway	2	154	169	149	135	124	148	879	146.50

 

Women's Qualifying - Standings after Squad 4/9

Pos	Player	Country	Squad	G1	G2	G3	G4	G5	G6	Pins	Avg.
1.	Aimee Kellegher	Ireland	3	235	233	187	223	222	236	1336	222.67
2.	Kerena Dykes	Ireland	4	202	218	200	210	245	211	1286	214.33
3.	Amanda Larkin	Ireland	4	233	181	179	218	241	230	1282	213.67
4.	Hannah Cullen	Ireland	4	182	155	224	236	236	212	1245	207.50
5.	Caitriona Mulhall	Ireland	4	175	201	182	170	191	190	1109	184.83
6.	Yvonne Randell	Ireland	1	160	181	148	167	213	190	1059	176.50
7.	Dymphna Kestell	Ireland	4	158	201	163	158	191	158	1029	171.50
8.	Sarah Finlay	Ireland	2	210	192	134	155	148	171	1010	168.33
9.	Emma Dungan	Ireland	4	170	151	178	191	118	171	979	163.17
10.	Maureen Burke	Ireland	3	134	169	123	133	159	191	909	151.50