Angie Brown, Olle Svensson capture the titles in 1st Senior Open - Dream-Bowl Palace 2014

    07/08/14

    2014 ISBT #5

    2014ISBT05AngieBrownOlleSvensson.jpg Angie Brown (pictured left) of England and Sweden's Olle Svensson (right) captured the women's and men's title in the inaugural Senior Open at Dream-Bowl Palace 2014 Sunday in Unterföhring near Munich, Germany.

    It was the first win for Brown and Svensson on the 2014 International Seniors Bowling Tour, marking the series' fifth different winners in as many events.

    The fifth stop on the 2014 ISBT was staged at 52-lane Dream-Bowl Palace, the biggest bowling center in Europe Click on the image to enlarge it. As many bowlers were eager to play in this beautiful center, the event attracted an entry list of 74 men and 18 women.

    The format for the tournament was two blocks of six games qualifying, with the lowest block optionally being replaced by a better re-entry score. The prize fund for this tournament was the biggest of the season, totaling 20,000 Euro. In addition to the usual prize fund, the leaders in both sections after qualification would also receive prize money.

    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.

    Squads started the weekend before the finals, the first squad being won by Patrick Reichling of Germany with 1286 including bonus. The Sunday squad was won by Matthias Kabel, Germany, with 1425.

    Bowling then resumed on the Wednesday, with Helmut Ulber, Germany, leading the first squad with 1449, and improving in the next squad with 1525. In the women's sections, good scores were posted by Marett Schiller, Germany, with 1262 and Swiss Sabine Leutwiler with 1228.

    On to Thursday, and still it was Germans leading the way, with Jürgen Preuss taking the first squad with 1481. It was now becoming clear that a good scoring condition had been prepared, and in the second Thursday squad, PBA Hall of Famer Brian Voss, United States, averaged 254.33 and posted a huge scratch total of 1526 (1562 with bonus) including a 300 game to get into a strong position in the tournament. On the women's side, Marett Schiller also found good form to win with 1389 including bonus.

    Friday morning saw Ernst Berndt of Austria lead the first squad with 1544, with Christer Pettersson of Sweden taking the second squad with 1494.

    In the women's section, Christel Carlsson of Sweden took top honors with 1272. The last squad of the day was won by her compatriot Leif Sjöberg with 1502, with Carlsson improving with 1339.

    Saturday, July 5th, was the final qualification day, and Finn Timo Mäkelä won the squad with 1484, some 40 pins ahead of the lone English male bowler and winner of the second stop in Osnabrück, Lol Ellis.

    There was also only one English female playing, and Angie Brown had the biggest qualifying series so far with 1426.

    At this point, Herman Wimmer of Germany, who won the men's title in the fourth stop in Bologna last month, was leading the men's overall qualification list with 3055, followed by Ernst Berndt on 2993 and Helmut Ulber on 2973.

    The women's standings were led by Marett Schiller with 2651, just 19 pins clear of Angie Brown with Christel Carlsson in third place.

    Only two qualification squads now remained. In the first, Leif Sjöberg of Sweden led with 1500 to move into third place overall, closely followed by Carlo Greulich of Germany, who won the third stop in Alsace.

    Alessandra Morra of Italy topped the women's scores with 1377 to move her into fourth position in the overall standings, while Sabine Leutwiler had another strong block of 1331 to move into the overall lead.

    The final block saw bowlers either trying to ensure their qualification, or trying to make the top qualification places and earn extra cash. Lol Ellis was the squad leader with 1441, which ensured his place in the finals.

    2014ISBT05ClaribelMuis.jpg Angie Brown had an improved set to move to the top of the ladies standings with 2705 from the 12 games ahead of Sabine Leutwiler and Marett Schiller. All three received additional prize money from their qualification positions.

    Nine women qualified directly from the overall standings, last through was Maria Grazia Locatelli of Italy on 2412. Claribel Muis (pictured right), Netherlands, failed to achieve a top position, but her final qualification game was a fine 300, which earned her a Turbo place.

    These bowlers were joined by a further four from the Early Bird Squads, Turbo Qualifier and Desperado Squad.

    In the men's qualification, Herman Wimmer led with 3055, just ahead of Brian Voss and Leif Sjöberg. The top ten qualifiers received additional prize money, the unlucky qualifier to miss out on this was Ellis in 11th place.

    The cut for the final was Klaus Rathgeber, Germany, in 28th place with 2714. Additionally, another 10 bowlers from the Early Bird, Turbo and Desperado Squads qualified to bowl again on Sunday.

    An early start on Sunday morning saw the men and women trying to advance further in the competition. For here on, the format of the competition was different to the normal ISBT formats.

    One immediate difference was due to the 52 lanes available, the final rounds were played at singles place. In both the men's and women's section, six games were played to determine the eight players that would compete in the final round robin competition.

    All the remaining finals competitors would compete in a Lucky Loser final to determine their final position.

    In the men's section, there were further 300 games from Swedes Jan Nordberg and Leif Sjöberg. Nordberg finished as top qualifier on 1574, some 50 pins ahead of Brian Voss. The cut for the top eight was Björn Ejderling on 1430, Sjöberg's 300 not being enough to achieve a place in the top 8.

    Pictured left are the eight men's finalsts. Click on the image to enlarge it.

    In the women's section, Angie Brown again led, this time with 1315, ahead of Sabine Leutwiler. Claribel Muis made good use of her Turbo qualification to make the Round Robin in eighth place.

    Pictured right are the eight men's finalsts. Click on the image to enlarge it.

    Those who hadn't made the Round Robin finals then bowled additional games to determine the Lucky Loser positions, which would determine their final prize money. The women played two further games, with Hillve Huhta of Finland emerging as the winner.

    The 30 men played two games, cutting to sixteen for a further two games, before cutting to eight for a final two games. Swedes Leif Sjöberg and Johan Åberg were neck and neck throughout, with Sjöberg emerging the victor over the 12 games.

    All that remained was the two Round Robin finals. In the men's division, Lars Stefan Palmer of Sweden opened up with a 300 game. Pinfall had carried through from the morning's six games, and by the third game, Jan Nordberg had a reasonable lead over Brian Voss in second place.

    The positions remained unchanged after the fifth game, but a 255 game and win from Voss in the sixth game gave him a very narrow lead. The final game was really close, and Brian Voss suffered a narrow defeat to Nordberg, 249-241.

    2014ISBT05JanNordbergOlleSvenssonLarsStefanPalmer.jpg However, the big surprise was that Sweden's Olle Svensson's 260 game moved past both of them to take the tournament win with 3523 total, 41 pins ahead of Nordberg who finished second with 3482. Palmer had a 270 last game to finish in third position, ahead of a somewhat surprised Voss, both at 3470. L-R Nordberg, Svensson and Palmer.

    In the ladies section, Claribel Muis started fastest with a 275 game, however as pinfall was carrying through, Angie Brown remained in the lead. By the third game Brown had dropped to third position due to two narrow defeats, the 30-pin bonus for a win was having a real effect.

    Sabine Leutwiler was now in the lead, with Christel Carlsson in second place after having 703 scratch for her first three games. By the end of the fifth game, Leutwiler remained in a strong lead, with Brown in second place after a 259 game.

    2014ISBT05SabineLeutwilerAngieBrownFaridaPascoalBlom.jpg A 266 in game six gave Brown a small lead, and so the final game against Leutwiler was the championship match. Brown took a comfortable 231-195 win to become the ladies' champion with 3049 total, having bowled 736 scratch over the final three games.

    Leutwiler finished second with 2945 with Farida Pascoal-Blom in third place with 2867. L-R Leutwiler, Brown and Pascoal-Blom.

    ISBTLogo_small.jpg The sixth stop of the 2014 International Seniors Bowling Tour is a return to Euro Bowling at Deurne, Belgium for the Flanders Senior Open. The tournament runs from the 15th to 20th July, 2014. Full details are available at ISBTBowlingTour.eu.

    Report and results by Tony Brown.

     


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