Angie Brown, Carlo Greulich win their third ISBT title this season in Böblingen Senior Open

    09/09/14

    2014 ISBT #9

    2014ISBT09CarloGreulichAngieBrown.jpgAngie Brown (r.) of England and Germany's Carlo Greulich (l.) celebrated their third victory on the 2014 International Seniors Bowling Tour when captured the women's and men's title in the 3rd Böblingen Senior Open Sunday, September 7, at Dream Bowl in Böblingen, Germany.

    The ninth stop on the 2014 ISBT was the third visit of the year to Germany, which attracted an entry list of 58 men and 15 women.

    The format for the tournament was two blocks of 6 games qualifying, with unlimited re-entries. For those not able to qualify through the main leaderboard, there were additional opportunities through Turbo games, Early Bird qualification 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.

    The tournament was played on a pattern used as part of the 2007 Weber Cup competition between the USA and Europe. On that occasion, the USA triumphed. Could a US bowler repeat that performance in Böblingen?

    The pattern itself provided the bowlers with some assistance towards the pocket, but carrying the corner pins was a real challenge. In part, this may be been due to the brand new Strike Maker pins which were fitted for the start of the tournament.

    Bowling started a week before the finals day, with two squads being held. The first squad showed that the condition could provide good scores, with Germany's Wolfgang Gurz having six games all over 200 to easily win the squad with 1486 with bonus, 1414 scratch, some distance ahead of Martin Grewe, also from Germany. In the second squad, Grewe took top position with 1395.

    Bowling resumed on Wednesday with the top bowlers all being from Germany. In the third squad, Norbert Lutzei won with 1336. In the ladies section, tournament director Christiane Kühn took top spot with a fine 1275. The fourth squad was won by Uwe Slama with 1311, just a few pins ahead of Ralf Schlingensief and Stefan Kehrle.

    Squad five was won by Frank Börner, Germany, with 1368, just two pins ahead of fellow German Berny Stöckl. Another good block in the ladies section by Kühn of 1235 put her well in the lead on the overall 12 game qualification list.

    The next squad was won by Börner with a slightly better score of 1377 to put him well up on the leaderboard. Sabine Leutweiler, Switzerland, took top ladies position with 1254. In the last Thursday squad, Stöckl was top with 1432, with Marett Schiller, Germany, leading the ladies with 1171.

    Friday saw three more squads. In the first, Italians took top positions in both the men's and women's sections. Giovanni Galletti had 1305, and Maria Grazia Locatelli had 1156. They were both top again in the next squad, Galetti with 1347, and Locatelli with 1180.

    The final squad of the day was won by Lutzei with 1394, with Kimberly Oakley, England, leading the women with 1264, including a fine 279 last game, which tied for the highest scratch game of the tournament so far.

    There were three final squads on Saturday. Another Italian, Gabrielle Benvenuti, was top in the first with 1382, with Angie Brown, England leading lady with 1239. At this point, the final cuts for the finals were becoming clearer.

    The top 10 men would miss the first round, with remainder down to position 24 making the finals. Leading the way was Grewe with 2775 over the 12 game qualifying, a few pins ahead of Stöckl and Gurz. The ladies were still being led by Kühn on 2510, ahead of Brown and Yvette Murrath, Belgium.

    The last but one squad was won by Hermann Wimmer, Germany, with 1439, just ahead of Ulf Lönngren, Sweden, which secured both their positions in the top 10. The ladies squad was won by Martina Beckel with 1210.

    The final qualification squad was won by Carlo Greulich, Germany, with 1386. Brown topped the ladies in this squad with 1233, but ended second in the overall rankings to Kühn, with Beckel in third place.

    The top eight from the final qualification standings would go forward to the final stages, eighth place being Marett Schiller. Two Early Bird, one Turbo and one Desperado would make the 12 ladies who would go forward to the final stages.

    In the men's qualification list, Grewe retained first place, just ahead of Stöckl and Wimmer. The top ten places were filled by eight German competitors, only Lönngren and Jim Einhorn, United States, stopped a total German shutout.

    These ten qualifiers would miss the first round early on Sunday morning, which would be contested by players from 11 to 24 in the overall standings, together with 4 Early Bird qualifiers, two Turbo and two Desperado qualifiers.

    The men qualifiers for the first final round bowled 4 games at singles pace, with the top 14 moving forwards to the next round. Klaus Lischka, Germany, finished top of this round with 968, just ahead of Giovanni Galletti, Italy. The cut for the second final round was Bruno Schmitt, France, with 803.

    In the next finals round, both men and women bowled six games, with scores starting from zero. Carlo Greulich easily led the men in this round with 1461, ahead of Hermann Wimmer. The top eight would go forward to the next round, eighth place going to Ralf Schlingensief on 1303.

    It was another German who led in the women's section, Martina Beckel with 1242, just ahead of Yvette Murrath. Just making the next round was Tassanee Weber with 1077 by a single pin from Uschi Diekhoff, both Germany.

    The next round was a further four games, with pinfall from the previous round carrying through. The top four in each division would go into the knockout finals. Carlo Greulich retained his lead, Sweden's Ulf Lönngren had a good block to move into second place, ahead of Hermann Wimmer and Berny Stöckl. In the women's section, Angie Brown had a strong block to move ahead of Martina Beckel and Yvette Murrath. Marett Schiller had a good last game to just make the fourth spot for the finals.

    Qualifiers 1 & 4 and 2 & 3 then played a single game knockout to see who would make the final round. Greulich maintained his form to defeat Stöckl, 240–228. Wimmer had an easy win over Lönngren, 253-209.

    Beckel had a comfortable win over Murrath in the ladies section, 218-179. The other semi-final was much tighter, with Brown just overcoming Schiller, 186-182.

    2014ISBT09CarloGreulichHermannWimmer.jpgThe men's final was led by Carlo Greulich (left) who maintained his earlier form to beat Wimmer (right), 233-222 to become the men's champion. It was Greulichs third title this season after his victories in the Dutch Senior Open and the Alsace Senior Open. Greulich also won the ISBT Masters Finals 2013 in August.

    2014ISBT09AngieBrownMartinaBeckel.jpgThe women's final also looked like going Germany's way, with Martina Beckel (right) opening up an early lead. However two late unconverted splits for Beckel, and a run of four strikes at the end of the game allowed Angie Brown (left) to gain victory, 209-184.

    It was also the third title this season for Brown after winnning the Flanders Senior Open and the 1st Senior Open - Dream-Bowl Palace. She is the all-time ISBT title leader with 11 titles.

    The final stop on the International Seniors Bowling Tour is the French Senior Open, which will be held at Planet Bowling in Lomme, France, from the 24th to 28th September. Full details are available at ISBTBowlingTour.eu.

    Courtesy of Tony Brown.

     


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    3rd Böblingen Senior Open - Women's Playoffs


    Dream Bowl in Böblingen, Germany (August 31 - September 7, 2014)

    Championship Round:
    1. Angie Brown, England
    2. Martina Beckel, Germany
    3. Yvette Murrath, Belgium, and Marett Schiller, Germany

    Playoff Results:
    Semifinal Match 1: No. 1 Brown def. No. 4 Schiller, 186-182
    Semifinal Match 2: No. 2 Beckel def. No. 3 Murrath, 218-179
    Championship: Brown def. Beckel, 209-184.

     


    3rd Böblingen Senior Open - Men's Playoffs


    Dream Bowl in Böblingen, Germany (August 31 - September 7, 2014)

    Championship Round:
    1. Carlo Greulich, Germany
    2. Herman Wimmer, Germany
    3. Ulf Lönngren, Sweden, and Berny Stöckl, Germany

    Playoff Results:
    Semifinal Match 1: No. 1 Greulich def. No. Stöckl, 240-228
    Semifinal Match 2: No. 3 Wimmer def. No. 2 Lönngren, 253-209
    Championship: Greulich def. Wimmer, 233-22.

     


    3rd Böblingen Senior Open - Men's Final Round 3


    Top 4 advance to the playoffs.

     


    3rd Böblingen Senior Open - Women's Final Round 2


    Top 4 advance to the playoffs.

     


    3rd Böblingen Senior Open - Men's Final Round 2


    Top 8 advance to the third round.

     


    3rd Böblingen Senior Open - Women's Final Round 1


    Top 8 advance to the second round.

     


    3rd Böblingen Senior Open - Men's Final Round 1


    Top 14 advance to the second round.

     


    3rd Böblingen Senior Open - Women's Qualifying Standings


    Top 8 qualifiers plus 2 Early Bird qualifiers, 1 Turbo and 1 Desperado qualifier advance to the finals.

     


    3rd Böblingen Senior Open - Men's Qualifying Standings


    Top 24 qualifiers plus 4 Early Bird qualifiers, 2 Turbo and 2 Desperado qualifiers advance to the finals. Top qualifiers receive one bye.

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