Hermann Wimmer counts on one pin for a win in Flanders Senior Open

    07/30/13

    2013 ISBT #7

    Alessandra Morra wins back-to-back women's title and third overall in 2013 International Seniors Bowling Tour season

    2013ISBT07AlessandraMorraHermannWimmer.jpgHermann Wimmer of Germany (pictured right) prevailed by one pin over compatriot Peter Knopp and André Geelen of Belgium to win the closest finish ever on the International Seniors Bowling Tour en route to claim the men's title of the Flanders Senior Open at Euro Bowling in Deurne, Antwerp, Belgium. Alessandra Morra (left) dominated the women's division to win her second consecutive ISBT title and the third this season.

    The seventh stop on the 2013 International Seniors Bowling Tour made its first visit of the year to Belgium, this time to Euro Bowling, in Deurne, Antwerp. This was the first time the event was held at Euro Bowling moving from its previous home in Gent.

    The tournament still attracted an entry list of 68 men and 21 women. The format for the qualifying was 12 games, made up from two blocks of six games.

    For those not able to qualify through the main leaderboard, there were additional opportunities through Turbo games and a Desperado squad. Age bonus started at age 51 (1 pin per game), then increased a pin for every additional year of age with no limit.

    As with all ISBT events, there was a separate division for ladies. The tournament also offered a €1500 prize for the first 300 game during qualifying.

    The lane pattern for this year's tournament was Bourbon Street from the Kegel Recreational series. In itself, this is at the easier end of the patterns used on the tour, however, the layout of Euro Bowling would add an additional degree of difficulty.

    The bowl is built on two levels, with competitors bowling three games downstairs and three games upstairs in each block. As the lane surface is different on the two levels, and the lanes were conditioned by different types of Kegel machine, some differences were to be expected.

    Additionally, the downstairs areas benefited from much more efficient air conditioning than the area over the upstairs lanes, so there was a noticeable temperature variation between the sets of lanes. During qualifying, many of the players found a good line on one set of lanes, to then be totally lost on the other lanes.

    The first squad was comfortably led by Chris Vandamme of Belgium, with 1348 including age bonus. A welcome return to the ladies section was made in this squad by Farida Pascoal-Blom of Netherlands, who showed she is still a very capable bowler with 1329.

    The second squad saw the appearance of local bowler Marc Wildemeersch of Belgium, who met the challenges with a very steady 1518, just a few pins ahead of Chris Vandamme's second entry on 1495. Pascoal-Blom hit 1228 for her second entry, to sit at the top of the qualification list.

    The third squad was won by yet another Belgium, this time it was André Geelan with 1421. In the fourth squad, finally another nationality was at the top, with England's Steve Wright scoring 1310. In the ladies section, Erna Buysse of Belgium was top with 1204.

    Squad five saw Wildemeersch take his second entry, which again won the squad with 1398. Liliane Vintens of Belgium set a new high in the ladies section with 1300.

    Squad six saw another Belgian winner, this time Gunner Trouillard on 1366. Squad seven saw the arrival of England's Ron Oldfield, winner of many ISBT events. He quickly got into his stride, and scored 1474. Alessanda Morra, who won the titles in the Plaza Senior Open in January and the Böblingen Senior Open earlier in July, set a new high in the women's division on 1317.

    Squad eight was again won by Oldfield, this time with a massive 1545, to take a clear lead on the overall standings. Another previous ISBT winner, Angie Brown of England, raised the highest score in the ladies section even further with 1325.

    The last squad on Friday evening saw Peter Knopp of Germany, a regular competitor on the PBA50 Tour in the U.S., lead with 1419, with his fellow countrywoman, Martina Beckel, taking top position with 1253.

    By then it was becoming clear that the qualifying cuts were going to be very high, Germany's Jochen Diekoff tried to ensure his place by winning squad ten with 1405. Beckel improved from the previous day's scores, with a total of 1333.

    Squad eleven was won by Mo Singleton of England on 1439, just two pins ahead of Georgio Desimio of Belgium. Karen Barfoot of England was top of the ladies on 1223.

    Yet more English success in squad 12, with Lol Ellis leading with 1460. Brown had another solid set of 1301 to ensure her qualification, but Morra was in great form to total 1414.

    The top two in each division would have byes until the final round, and the six men ranked 2nd thru 8th would get a first-round bye. Therefore many bowlers were trying to fill the top spaces. The final men's squad was won again by Wildemeersch to ensure second qualifying place. His block score of 1400 was just three pins ahead of the oldest competitor, 83-year-old Frank Stander of England.

    Going into the final squad, Morra had a commanding lead in the women's division, with Brown in second place. Both Vintens and Beckel looked capable of gaining a top two place, in the end it was Beckel who made thanks to a 1369 score.

    The top two women were seeded into final round, while qualifiers 3-8 advanced to the first round. Barfoot took the eighth and last place to advance with 2456 total. Also advancing were the turbo winner and the winner of the Desperado Squad.

    The men's cut for the top 28 was Michel Perniaux of Belgium, on 2610. The top two qualifiers were Oldfield (3019) and Wildemeersch (2910), who would progress straight to the final round.

    The players from eighth and above would miss the first final round, this cut being Stander on 2827. The qualifiers were joined by two turbo winners, and two winners from the Desperado Squad.

    Sunday, July 21, was finals day, and from here onwards only the lower 12 lanes at Euro Bowling would be used. A four-game qualifying round would select the ten bowlers who would progress further, this block was won by Jack Smith of England with 938, just a few pins ahead of Gabriele Benvenuit of Italy. Tenth place and the last to progress was Desimio with 888.

    The next round saw these ten joined by those from qualification positions three to eight. Only four of the sixteen men would qualify for the final.

    After three games, Ellis had a narrow lead with Knopp languishing is eleventh place. In game four that all changed, with Knopp recording a great 300 game to leap up the table. However, disappointment was to follow, as he realized that the €1.500 prize for a 300 game was only available during qualification.

    He did finish in fourth place on 1411 to make the round robin final. The clear leader was Hermann Wimmer of Germany on 1479, followed by Les Grant of England, and Geelan.

    2013ISBT07WomenTop3withJackSmith.jpgIn the ladies section, Vintens opened up a significant lead game by game to finish in first position, followed by the English pair of Barfoot and Brown. Petra Duplois of Germany was the final qualifier.

    The ladies round robin final was dominated from start to finish by Alessandra Morra, who averaged an amazing 248.20 scratch. 142 pins behind was Beckel in second place, with Duplois further 15 pins behind in third place.

    L-R Martina Beckel (2nd), champion Alessandra Morra, Petra Duplois (3rd), and ISBT Board member, Jack Smith.

    2013ISBT07MenTop3.jpgThe men's round robin final was altogether a closer affair. Going into the last game, Wimmer was two pins ahead of Knopp, with the remainder some way behind. Neither of the top two had a strong last game, with both losing convincingly.

    However, Knopp only clawed back one pin on Wimmer, so he was still one pin behind him. However, Geelan had 283 with bonus to suddenly be in contention. After much checking of the scores, Geelan had tied with Peter Knopp for second place, with just one pin covering the top three.

    The tournament rules are that in the case of a tie, the highest scratch score wins, so Knopp was awarded second place in the closest finish the ISBT has ever seen.

    L-R Peter Knopp (2nd), champion Hermann Wimmer, and Andre Geelan (3rd).

    The next stop is a return to the long-running Schiedam Senior Open, which will be held at Chandra Bowling in Schiedam from July 31 thru August 4. Full details are available at the ISBT website.

    Report by Tony Brown.

     


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    2013 Flanders Senior Open - Men's Finals

     


    2013 Flanders Senior Open - Women's Finals

     


    2013 Flanders Senior Open - Men's Round Two


    The top 8 advance to the third round.

     


    2013 Flanders Senior Open - Men's Round One


    The top 10 advance to the second round.

     


    2013 Flanders Senior Open - Women's Round One


    The top 4 advance to the finals.

     


    2013 Flanders Senior Open - Men's Qualifying


    The top 28 qualifiers plus two turbo qualifiers and two winners from the Desperado Squad advance to the final. The top 2 qualifiers advance to the final round. Qualifiers 3-8 receive one bye.

     


    2013 Flanders Senior Open - Women's Qualifying


    The top 8 qualifiers plus one turbo qualifiers and the winner of the Desperado Squad advance to the finals. The top 2 qualifiers advance to the final round.

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