Martina Beckel, Dan Stricker win hands down in Hansabowl Senior Challenge

    05/12/13

    2013 ISBT #4

    2013ISBT04DanStrickerMartinaBeckel.jpgGermany's Martina Beckel and Dan Stricker (pictured left, r-l), United States, dominated the men's and women's division and cruised to the titles in the inaugural Hansabowl Senior Challenge Sunday, May 5 at Park Bowling in Mühlheim, Germany. The fourth stop of the 2013 International Seniors Bowling Tour drew 66 players, 49 men and 15 women, from 13 countries.

    The format for the tournament was two blocks of six games qualifying, unusually for an ISBT tournament, qualifying would be from the best two block scores from all the entries.

    For those not able to qualify through the main leaderboard, there were additional opportunities through Turbo games. 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 first two squads were run a full weekend before the end of the tournament, during the same weekend as the previous tournament in Wittelsheim, France. This provided an opportunity for many bowlers to try to qualify for both tournaments in the same weekend.

    The very first squad saw Loris Masetti from Italy do just this, leading the squad with 1472 with age bonus, followed by Axel Bernauer, Germany. Martina Beckel, a long-time German national team member and two-time World Champion, was the top woman qualifier with 1210.

    Masetti went on to win the second squad with 1396 to hold a strong position at the top of the overall qualifying. In the women's division, Maria Grazia Locatelli, Italy, put in two solid entries to lead.

    Qualifying then resumed on Wednesday, and Jochen Diekhoff, Germany, had a fine 1405 to win squad three by some distance. The next squad saw Austrian Ernst Berndt, winner of the second stop in Osnabrück, Germany, clearly lead with 1397, followed by Andrés Fernández of Spain. The last squad on Wednesday only had four bowlers, and was led by Leif Jenson, Denmark.

    Thursday saw only two squads, the first led by Wolfgang Emmerich of Germany, and the second by Berndt, whose 1419 firmly put him in second place in the overall qualifying behind leader Masetti.

    Friday saw the arrival on many of the bowlers with long distances to travel. Squad 9 was won by Jürgen Preuss, Germany, with 1423, ahead of England's Frank Stander. Squad 10 saw yet more high scoring, the highest man was Barry Horne, United States, with 1415, but the overall squad winner was England's Angie Brown, a multiple ISBT women's champion, who had 1423, including a 280 game.

    Saturday saw the last three squads, the first being led in the men's section by Hermann Wimmer on 1366, followed by Chris Vandamme (Belgium). For the second squad in a row, the overall winner was a woman, this time Martina Beckel with 1375.

    This put her in second place in the overall standings behind Brown, these two over 200 pins ahead of the remainder of the field, while the men's section was still being led by Masetti and Berndt.

    Squad 13 saw more high scoring, with Horne winning the squad with 1432 to consolidate his position on the leaderboard. Wittelsheim women's champion Alessandra Morra had 1256 in the ladies section, to move into a safe position in the women's qualifying.

    The final squad saw a large number of bowlers trying to secure the top eight places in the men's section which would provide a bye through the first final round. There were also qualification places in the ladies section achievable for several bowlers.

    Vandamme won the squad with 1413 to ensure his place in the top eight. He was followed by Dan Stricker, USA, on 1347, which secured his qualifying position. None of the women managed to improve enough to change the leaderboard.

    There was then an unusual cut in the men's division as top qualifier Loris Masetti had not returned from Italy. This meant the cut was at the 31st qualifying position, which was Erwin Seibel, Germany, on 2509. The two Turbo qualifiers were Pierre Prou of France and Gabrielle Benvenuti of Italy.

    The cut for the women's division was at seventh place (Uschi Diekoff, Germany, 2329) with the final Turbo place going to Liliane Vintens.

    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 10 progressing to the second final round, where they would be joined by the top eight qualifiers.

    Leading the way was American Dan Stricker with a 254 average (scratch) on 1052. He was almost 100 pins ahead of Carlo Greulich, Germany, in second place. The cut for the top 10 was Berny Stöckl on 873.

    2013ISBT04Top3Men.jpgThe second final round saw first round leader Sticker struggle in the first game with a lowly 158. However, this slump was very short lived, and he recovered to be the leader at the end of the six game block with 1466, just 10 pins ahead of Andrés Fernández, Spain. These two had a clear lead of almost 100 pins over third place, which was important as the pinfall would carry forward into the round robin final.

    The final was led all the way through by Stricker, who emerged a clear winner by over 140 pins. The battle for second, third and fourth places was close all the way through, with Fernández finishing second, and Greulich just edging out Ernst Berndt, Austria, in the last game for third place.

    L-R Fernández, Stricker & Greulich.

    2013ISBT04Top3Women.jpgThe women's final followed the same pattern as the men, with Martina Beckel, Germany, putting in seven 200-plus games to finish the clear winner. Second place came down to the last round robin game between Angie Brown, England, and Marianne Pelz, Germany, who were playing each other. A good win for Brown moved her into second place, ahead of Pelz, who finished third.

    L-R Brown, Beckel & Pelz.

    The fifth stop of the 2013 International Seniors Bowling Tour is a return to Bologna in Italy for the Italian Senior Open June 1-9 at Reno Bowling.

    The ISBT Masters tournament will be held at the same time, which is open to the top 12 ladies and top 32 men from the 2012 season rankings. The tournament runs from the 1st to 9th June 2013. Full details are available at the ISBT website.

    Report and results by Tony Brown.

     


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    2013 Hansabowl Senior Challenge - Men's Finals (Final Standings)

     


    2013 Hansabowl Senior Challenge - Women's Finals (Final Standings)

     


    2013 Hansabowl Senior Challenge - Men's Round Two


    The top 8 advance to the finals.

     


    2013 Hansabowl Senior Challenge - Men's Round One


    The top 10 advance to the second round.

     


    2013 Hansabowl Senior Challenge - Men's Qualifying


    The top 30 qualifiers plus two turbo qualifiers (Prou & Benvenuti) advance to the finals. The top eight qualifiers receive one bye. *No. 1 Masetti (no show) was replaced by No. 31 Seibel.

     


    2013 Hansabowl Senior Challenge - Women's Qualifying


    The top 7 qualifiers plus the top turbo qualifier (Vintens) advance to the finals.

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