Mika Koivuniemi wins qualifying in Chandra Open 2013 in The Netherlands

    09/22/13

    2013 European Bowling Tour #13

    PBA star leads a field of 40 players into the finals on Sunday, Sept. 22; Belgium's Mats Maggi and Finland's Osku Palermaa crack the top 8 on last qualifying day; cut for 30th place is 1269 (211.50 average)

    Image2012EBT04JimmyRavez.jpgMika Koivuniemi (pictured left) of Finland held on to the lead on the last qualifying day in the European Bowling Tour's Chandra Open 2013 en route to lead a field of 40 players into the finals on Sunday, Sept. 22, at Chandra Bowling in Nieuwegein, Netherlands.

    The 11-time PBA Tour champion and a two-time PBA player of the Year averaged 244.50 in the 9th squad to lead the field of 125 players from 13 countries with a six-game series of 1467.

    Koivuniemi, who lives in Hartland, Mich., is looking for his 8th career EBT title. He had a 38-pin cushion over second-place Jimmy Ravez (above right) of Belgium, who rolled a 1429 series in the very first qualifying squad.

    2013EBT04MatsMaggi2.jpg2013WCOskuPalermaa.jpgMats Maggi (left) of Belgium and Finland's Osku Palermaa (right) were the only players in Saturday's Squads 11-13, who cracked the top 8 to receive a first-round bye. Maggi had games of 225, 243, 268, 199, 235 and 248 to lead Squad 11 and to finish qualifying in third place with 1418 and an average of 236.33.

    Two-hander Palermaa, who owns three PBA titles including a "major" and record 13 European Bowling Tour titles, was close behind with 1410. Fifth-place Palermaa was sandwiched between fellow PBA champions Stuart Williams and Dominic Barrett of England, who were in fourth and sixth place with 1413 and 1394, respectively.

    2013EBT13JeffreyvandeWakker.jpg2013EBT02TimoSchroder.jpgJeffrey van de Wakker (left) was the best qualifier of the host country Netherlands in seventh place with 1390 total. Rounding out the top 8 was Richard Teece of England, who also totaled 1390 but had the lower last game than Van de Wakker (166 to 248).

    German national team member Timo Schröder (right) started the last Squad 13 with a 290 game, the highest game of the tournament so far, but fell 15 pins short of the top 8 to finish in ninth place with 1375.

    Lisanne Breeschoten (below left), Netherlands, was the best of mere 14 women in the field to land in 11th place with 1369 including 48 pins handicap. Breeschoten will battle it out for the women's ranking in Nieuwegein with her compatriots Ghislaine van der Tol (below right) and Priscilla Maaswinkel, who made the cut in 20th and 23rd place, and Norway's Line Almestrand, who won the Desperado Squad.

    2013EBT02LisanneBreeschoten.jpg2012EBT15GhislainevanderTol.jpgNico Joris of Belgium took the 30th and last place to qualify directly for the finals with 1269 or an average of 211.50. The top 30 qualifiers will be joined in the finals by the top 6 players of Squads 1-4 and the top 4 of the one-game Desperado Squad.

    The Chandra Open 2013 will be held Sept. 15-22, 2013 at 16-lane Chandra Bowling in Nieuwegein, Netherlands, The tournament is the 13th stop of the 2013 European Bowling Tour and the fourth out of seven EBT "Satellite" tournaments this season.

    The Chandra Open offers total prize fund of 25.600 Euro with 5.000 Euro going to the winner and 3.000 Euro to the runner-up, while the third and fourth place finishers will receive 2.000 Euro and 1.000, respectively.

    Qualifying of the Chandra Open (six-game series, unlimited re-entries) ran from Sunday, Sept. 15 through Saturday, Sept. 21. Women receive 8 pins handicap each game throughout the entire tournament, a standard for women on the European Bowling Tour.

    A total of 40 players advanced to the finals on Sunday, Sept. 22 including the top 30 from the overall qualifying standings, the top 6 from a separate leader board of Squads 1-4 (Sept. 15-17), and the top 4 of the one-game Desperado Squad. The top 8 qualifiers received a first-round bye.

    The remaining 32 players will bowl four games starting from scratch with half of the field advancing to the second round. The top 16 from Round One and the top eight qualifiers will bowl another four-game round starting from scratch to cut to the top 12.

    Those twelve will bowl six games with the pinfall from Round Two being carried forward. The player with the highest 10-game total including handicap will be declared the winner.

    2013EBTLogo_small.jpg The 2013 European Bowling Tour consists of 19 tournaments in 13 countries including two Platinum, six Gold, four Silver and seven Satellite events.

    The top 50 men and the top 50 women in each event earn ranking points based on how they finish. 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 2013 Chandra Open gets 50 ranking points.

    Points are tabulated throughout the season and the top 12 men and the top 12 women qualify for the seventh EBT Masters to be held March 3, 2014 at Dolfijn Bowling in Tilburg, Netherlands immediately following the EBT Hammer Bronzen Schietspoel Tournament 2014.

     


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    Standings after Qualifying and Desperado Squad


    The top 30 from the overall qualifying standings, the top 6 from a separate leader board of Squads 1-4 (places 31-36) and the top 4 of the Desperado Squad (places 37-40) advance to the finals.

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