Tolga Şişmanoğullar (pictured left) and Gülhan Aksular (right) remained atop the leaderboard in the 9th Istanbul Bowling Open after the players of Squads 3 and 4 have finished their six-game blocks Sunday at Timeout Bowling Center in Istanbul, Turkey.

ÅžiÅŸmanoÄŸullar leads the field of 73 players from Turkey, Germany, Russia, Romania and Azerbaijan with 1401 total and an average of 233.50. Aksular, the best of 20 women, is 106 pins behind with 1295 including 48 pins handicap.

By virtue of finishing Squads 1-4 in first and second place, ÅžiÅŸmanoÄŸullar and Aksular earned automatic berths into the finals on Sunday, May 11.

Long-time Turkish national team member Habib DoÄŸan (left) was the best player on Sunday en route to overtake third place in the qualifying standings. DoÄŸan rolled games of 189, 257, 249, 160, 197 and 215 to lead Squad 4 with 1267 and an average of 211.17. All Squad leaders will be awarded a 300 Euro bonus.

Michael Michajlow of Germany and Burak Natal, Turkey, also cracked the 1200-bar in Squad 4 to position themselves in fifth and sixth place with 1218 and 1208, respectively.

Fourth place Barlas KontaÅŸ (left) and seventh place Taygun Erkeskin (right), Turkey, led the first Desperado Squad, which was contested Sunday immediately following Squad 4. KontaÅŸ was the best of 35 desperados with a 235 game while Erkeskin posted 213.

Both players earned spots in the finals. Only players who bowled in one of the four squads on Saturday and Sunday were allowed to bowl. The second Desperado Squad will take place at the end of the qualifying.

Mustafa Gürbulak (right), who led Squad 3 with 1182 (197 average), finished the second qualifying day in ninth place. David Orlanda, Romania, currently holds the 42nd and last place to qualify for the finals (top 38 qualifiers plus top 2 of Squads 1-4 and the top 2 of Desperado Squad 1) with 1035 or an average of 172.50.

Qualifying continues Monday, May 5, with Squad 5 scheduled to start at 9 p.m. Eastern European Summer Time (CEST +1).

The 9th Istanbul Bowling Open will be held from Saturday, May 3, through Sunday, May 11, at 20-lane Timeout Bowling Center in Istanbul, Turkey. The tournament is the sixth stop of the 2014 European Bowling Tour season and the second of six EBT "gold" tournaments, the second-highest of four categories.

Players will compete for total prize money of 60.000 Euro with 7.000 Euro going to the winner, 5.000 to the runner-up and 1.400 and 3.250 apiece to the third and fourth place finisher, respectively. Low to cash is 48th place worth 500 Euro.

Qualifying got underway on Saturday, May 3, and runs through Saturday, May 10 with the final qualifying Squad 20 scheduled for 8 p.m. Eastern European Summer Time (CEST +1). Qualifying concludes with the one-game Desperado Squad 2 slated to start at Midnight.

Women receive 8 pins handicap each game (maximum score is 300), a standard on the European Bowling Tour.

Total 48 players - the top 38 qualifiers, the top two players of a separate leaderboard from Squads 1-4 plus the top two players of Desperado Squad 1 and the top six players of Desperado Squad 2 - will advance to the finals on Sunday, May 11.

The top eight qualifiers earns three byes, qualifiers 9-18 get two byes, and qualifiers 19-28 receive a first-round bye.

The first five rounds of the final consist of four games from scratch. The field will be trimmed to 38, 28, 18, 8 and then four players, who will determine the champion in head-to-head matches with the two-game total determining the winner.

The top-seeded player after Round 5 bowls No. 4 seed and No. 2 takes on No. 3 in the semifinals. The winners advance to the title match while the losers will be seeded third and fourth according to their seeding after Round 5.

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.