Brigitte Fievet, Gunther Schollen prevail at Alsace Senior Open

    05/06/13

    2013 ISBT #3

    2013ISBT03BrigitteFievetGunterSchollen.jpg

    Brigitte Fievet (pictured left) of France and Belgium's Gunther Schollen (right) won the women's and men's title in the Alsace Senior Open Sunday, April 28 at Cristal Bowling in Wittelsheim, France. The third stop of the 2013 International Seniors Bowling Tour drew 106 players, 83 men and 23 women, from 11 countries.

    The format for the 50 & over tournament was two blocks of six games qualifying, with the lowest block optionally being replaced by a better re-entry score. For those not able to qualify through the main leaderboard, there were additional opportunities through Turbo games and the Desperado Squad.

    Players received age bonus starting at age 51 (1 pin per game) and increasing one pin for every additional year of age with no limit. As with all ISBT events, men and women bowled in separate divisions.

    The lane pattern for the 2013 Alsace Senior Open was more open than the previous year, and the early squads showed that high scores were achievable.

    The first squad was led by Daniel Sebellin of France with 1322 including age bonus, but the big winner from that squad was Arthur Dähn of Germany, who had a 289 scratch turbo game (301 with bonus), which would secure his place as a turbo qualifier.

    The second squad was led by Mick Ince, England, with 1450, closely followed by Loris Masetti, Italy, on 1446. In the women's division, Inge Juncker of Denmark took an early lead with 1235.

    The third squad on Friday morning didn't produce any better scores, and was led by Jürgen Preuss, Germany, on 1410. Ince produced yet another solid block of 1390 to lead the overall standings.

    Friday's second squad was the most popular of the day, with 50 bowlers competing across the majority of Cristal Bowling's lanes. This squad saw the arrival of many bowlers from further away, and saw a step change in the scoring.

    Alain Aubert of France led the squad with 1570, closely followed by Barry Horne, a native U.S. American who lives in Germany, who got close to 300 in his fifth game, failing only in the tenth frame to finish with games of 275 and 279 including handicap. In the women's division, a new high was set by multiple ISBT titlist, Angie Brown of England, with 1273.

    The last Friday squad saw more high scoring, this time led by Albert Arama, France, with 1577. This put him at the top of the overall standings on 2983, followed by Masetti and Aubert.

    Alessandra Morra, Italy, was the high scorer in this final squad of the day on 1246, which moved her to the top of the women's overall standings on 2444, just ahead of Juncker and Liliane Vintens of Belgium.

    Saturday saw the final three squads, all with excellent numbers of bowlers competing. The first squad on Saturday saw Rosario Bellomonte, Italy, take top spot with 1521. On the women's side, Brown put in another strong block of 1243 to now lead the overall standings with 2316.

    The seventh squad was the largest of the tournament, with 60 bowlers filling the 36 lanes at Cristal Bowling.

    This squad saw former world champion Patrick Rolland of France total 1567 to establish his position at the top of the leaderboard with 3100, some distance ahead of Horne in second place. Morra had a huge block of 1372 to jump to a clear overall lead in the women's field with a 2618 total.

    The final squad saw a large number women all battling for the top six qualifying places, together with a number of men trying to secure a top eight position and avoid the first round of the finals on early Sunday morning.

    Schollen was top man in the squad with 1538, which was enough for sixth place overall. Peter Knopp, Germany, a regular contender on the PBA50 Tour, was second and took the eighth and last qualifying place to earn one bye with a total of 2923, just two pins clear of compatriot Hermann Wimmer.

    The cut for the top 32 who would progress to the finals was Santo Provenzi of Italy on 2652. These 32 were joined in the final by Germans Arthur Dähn, and Uwe Tscharke, who advanced through the Turbo qualification (highest game).

    The women's division saw several changes during the last squad. Maryse Jacques of France scored 1344 to move into second place in the overall standings behind leader Morra. Other French ladies to qualify through the last squad were Brigitte Fievet and Pascale Moynot, who was sixth on 2475. The ladies Turbo qualifier was Corinne Rohr, France.

    The final two places for the men and the last place for the women was determined in the ultimate one-game Desperado Squad on Saturday night.

    Unusually, there were more women than men in the Desperado Squad with six women and five men trying to qualify. Valentin Fatu of Romania and Antonio Belotti of Italy were the men qualifiers and Gisela Insinger, Germany, managed to put the strikes together at the end for a 220 game to make the women's final.

    Sunday morning saw the start of the finals for the men, with all scores resetting to zero. The men bowled four games starting from scratch in the first final round, with the top 16 progressing to the second final round.

    Leading the way was Andre Geelen of Belgium at 1013, with fellow countryman Roger Pieters just ten pins behind in second place. Last qualifier was Serge Frouvelle of France on 895. The top 16 met the top eight qualifiers in another six-game round to determine the eight finalists.

    The second round was close at the top, led by Djouard Laya, France, at 1474 with Frank Börner, Germany, in second place at 1456. The final qualifying place for the final went to Peter Knopp, Germany, on 1394.

    The eight women, who survived qualifying advanced straight to the match play finals. Brigitte Fievet, France, took the early lead, closely followed by Yvette Murrath, Belgium, and Corrine Rohr, France.

    2013ISBT03AlessandraMorra.jpgQualifying leader Alessandra Morra (right), Italy, could not match her qualifying pace and fell behind. In the fifth game she suddenly found the line and reeled off twelve consecutive strikes for a 300 game, very much to the delight of the crowd and in particular the strong Italian contingent.

    However, even this wasn't enough to gain a top position, and in the end Fievet prevailed as champion and was followed by Murrath and Pascale Moynot, France. The photo shows the women's finalists. Click on the image to enlarge it.

    The men's round robin match play finals started from scratch. The top positions were close through the final, with Gunther Schollen Frank Börner trading the lead during the first games.

    In game five, just after the 300 game from Alessandra Morra, Uwe Tscharke of Germany also found a good line and hit the first eleven strikes, before his last ball left a single pin standing for 299.

    Schollen finally emerged the winner with 1782 including match play bonus and age bonus, 41 pins ahead of Börner (1741) and Serge Frouvelle (1736) of France, who finished in second and third place, respectively. The photo shows the men's finalists. Click on the image to enlarge it.

    It was the second title for Schollen this season after his victory in the season-opening event in Reims, France.

    The fourth stop of the International Seniors Bowling Tour is the Hansabowl Senior Challenge at Park Bowling in Mühlheim, Germany, a new location for the ISBT. The tournament runs from the 28th April to 5th May 2013. Full details are available at the ISBT website.

    Report and results by Tony Brown.

     


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