Brian Voss holds on to the lead in Sofia International Open in Bulgaria

    11/29/13

    Bulgaria

    PBA Hall of Famer leads 126-player field from 15 countries with 1453 six-game total; Finn Pasi Uotila shoots third-highest 1355 series on Thursday; cut is 1183 (197.17 average)

    20120314BrianVoss.jpgPBA Hall of Famer Brian Voss (pictured left), United States, held on to the lead in the qualifying of the Sofia International Open currently underway at Joy Station bowling center in Sofia, Bulgaria.

    With 20 of 28 qualifying squads in the books, Voss leads the 126-player field from 15 countries with 1453 or an average of 242.17 for six games. The 25-time PBA champion, who also owns three European Bowling Tour titles, and another seven players are already qualified for Sunday's finals by virtue of finishing 1 thru 8 on a separate leaderboard of Squads 1-12.

    2013EBT15PasiUotila.jpgPasi Uotila (right) of Finland averaged 225.83 and posted a 1355 series on Thursday, the third-highest series in the tournament so far, to position himself atop the list of 44 players (9th place), who will join those eight in the finals. Uotila had games of 233, 195, 207, 236, 247 and 237.

    Mattias Olsson of Sweden was mere 14 pins behind with 1341 (223.50) average to move into 10th place.

    2012BWCMarinaStefanova.jpgNafsika Deligianni of Greece and Marina Stefanova (left) of Bulgaria were the best of twelve women in the field in 28th and 33rd place with 1256 and 1247, respectively, including eight pins handicap each game.

    Dimitrios Leventis of Greece holds the 52nd and last place to advance (including the eight players, who are already qualified) with 1183 or an average of 197.17.

    Qualifying continues on Friday, November 29 with squads 21-24 scheduled for 10 a.m., 2, 6, and 9.30 p.m. Eastern European Time (CET +1).

    The Sofia International Open runs from Nov. 23 thru Dec. 1, 2013 at 20-lane Joy Station in Sofia, Bulgaria, and offers total prize fund of 40.000 Euro with 6.000 Euro going to the winner, 4.000 Euro to the runner-up and 3.000 and 2.500 Euro to the third and fourth place finisher, respectively.

    All players bowl at least one six-game qualifying block with unlimited re-entries. 56 players will advance to the finals on Sunday, December 1, including the top 8 from the a separate leader board of the squads conducted November 23-26 (Squads 1-12), the top 44 qualifiers plus the top 4 of the single-game Desperado Squad.

    All 56 qualifiers bowl 6 games scratch in Round One. The top 28 players advance to the single-elimination finals in best-of-three games format. In each round the highest seeded player bowls the lowest seeded player, the second highest seeded player bowls the second lowest seeded player, etc.

    The top 4 qualify for Round Three (seeded 1-4), while players ranked 5-28 advance to Round Two. The field will be trimmed to 16, 8 and then four players who will determine the champion in single-game semifinals and final.

     


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    The top eight of Squads 1-12 are automatically qualified for the finals (places 1-8). At thee end of the qualifying, the next 44 players based on the six-game total will also advance (places 9-52).

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