With his 1499 series of Squad 7, Johnny Spil (pictured left), Netherlands, won the qualifying of the Hammer Bronzen Schietspoel Tournament 2014 at Dolfijn Bowling Tilburg, Netherlands, and a 1.000 Euro bonus. Spil, who had games of 253, 268, 279, 213, 239 and 247, leads 46 of 213 bowlers from 17 countries into Sunday's finals.

The Dutch national team member was the only player who topped Jean-Marc Lebon of Belgium, who rolled a 1483 series in the opening squad. Swede Jesper Svensson (right) posted the highest series on Saturday to jump into third place with 1477. The two-handed lefty had games of 226, 220, 268, 248, 279 and 236 in Squad 12, an average of 246.17.

Dane Thomas Larsen (left) led Squad 13 with 1474 (245.67) including a high game of 289 to improve his previous high series of 1456 and to leap into fourth place.

Norwegian Bjørn Einar Rudshagen slipped two spots to fifth place with 1470.

Carsten Warming Hansen was next to Larsen with 1465 to beat out fellow Danish national team member Jesper Agerbo (right; 1464) for sixth place by one pin. The top six players will bypass the first round of the finals.

Fresh off her victory in the 8th International Wroclaw Open by Hammer, Kamilla Kjeldsen (left), Denmark, was the best of 48 women in the field in 11th place with 1437 including 48 pins handicap, an average of 231.50 scratch.

Clemens Ulsamer of Germany was the 20th player, who cracked the 1400-bar with 1404. John Guldbæk (right) of Denmark hit the cutoff number for 36th place with 1377 or an average of 229.50.

Joining the top 36 in the finals are the top six players from the first four qualifying squads and the top 4 of the Desperado Squad. Total 46 players, 36 men and 10 women, survived the first cut.

The Hammer Bronzen Schietspoel Tournament 2014 is the third stop of the 2014 European Bowling Tour and the first of four EBT "Silver" tournaments, the third-highest of four EBT categories. The tournament will be held from Sunday, Feb. 23, through Sunday, March 2, at 20-lane Dolfijn Bowling in Tilburg, Netherlands.

Players will compete for total prize money of 44.400 Euro with 6.000 Euro going to the winner, 4.000 to the runner-up and 3.000 and 2.000 to third and fourth place finishers, respectively. Low to cash is 46th place (400 Euro).

Qualifying (six games) ran from February 23 through March 1. Women receive 8 pins handicap each game (maximum score is 300), a standard on the European Bowling Tour.

A total of 46 players - the top 36 qualifiers, the top 4 from the Desperado Squad and the top 6 from a separate leaderboard of Squads 1-4 conducted Feb. 23-25 - advanced to the finals on Sunday, March 2. The top 6 qualifiers receive one bye. The winner of the qualifying received a 1.000 Euro bonus.

Players ranked 7 to 46 will bowl four games with the top 18 players joining the top six qualifiers in the eliminator finals. Those 24 players will be divided into six groups of four players each for the first of four eliminator rounds.

All four players of each group will bowl a two-game match with the two lowest scoring players eliminated. The two highest scoring players advance to the next round. In the first round four "lucky losers" (four highest third-place finishers) also advance.

The field will be cut to 16, eight and then four players who will bowl a final two-game round to determine the champion.

After the 2014 Brunswick Italia Challenge has been cancelled, the 2014 European Bowling Tour features 20 tournaments in 14 countries. In its 15th season, the EBT consists of two Platinum, six Gold, three Silver and nine Satellite tournaments. The total prize fund exceeds one million Euro.

The top 50 men and the top 50 women in each event receive ranking points. Those points will be tabulated throughout the season to determine the top 12 men and top 12 women, who will compete in the eighth EBT Masters July 6, 2015 in Asti, Italy.