Daniel Vezis (pictured left) of Latvia averaged 233 for six games in the first squad of the Russian Open to lead the three-day event with 1398 total as qualifying has reached its halfway point.

Fresh of a second-place finish in the Brunswick Etna Open last week, the two-handed lefty had games of 255, 232, 187, 215, 258 and 252 to hold an 85-pin lead over defending champion Maria Bulanova in second place with 1333 including eight pins handicap each game.

The 15-year-old Russian women's national team member (right) became the youngest player ever to win an European Bowling Tour title when she defeated Mykhaylo Kalika of Ukraine, 420-413, to win the 2013 RedExpress Russian Open at the age of 14.

Bulanova led Squad 3 on Friday evening with 1285 scratch, an average of 214.17 and 1333 total to leap into second place. Squad 2 leader, Andrey Reva, Russia, slipped to third place with 1332 including a 279, the highest game of the tournament so far.

Rounding out the top 4, who will receive two byes at the end of the qualifying, was Alexsander Pashkovskiy, Russia, wth 1302. Dmitriy Shilkin of Belarus currently holds the 12th and last place to earn a first-round bye with 1249 (208.17 average).

With 81 players, 67 men and 14 women, from nine countries (Belarus, Egypt, Finland, Israel, Latvia, Lithuania, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, and the host country Russia) in the books, Julian Vysotskiy of Latvia mans the 42nd and final place to advance with 1124 or an average of 187.33.

Qualifying concludes on Saturday with squads 4-6 scheduled to start at 10 a.m., 2 and 6 p.m. Moscow Standard Time (CEST +2) and concludes with the one-game Desperado Squad slated for 9.30 p.m.

The Russian Open is the 13th stop of the 2014 European Bowling Tour and the fifth out of nine EBT "Satellite" tournaments this season. The three-day event runs from Sept. 12-14 at 52-lane Russkoe Pole "Russian Field" bowling center in St. Petersburg, Russia.

The Russian Open offers total prize fund of 25.000 Euro with 2.500 Euro going to the winner, 2.200 to the runner-up and 2.000 and 1.700 Euro for the third and fourth place finishers respectively. Final cash spot is 48th place worth 200 Euro.

Qualifying (six-game series, unlimited re-entries) runs Friday and Saturday, Sept. 12 & 13 with the last Squad 6 scheduled for 6 p.m. local time (CEST +2) and concludes with the Desperado Squad scheduled to start at 9.30 p.m. Women receive 8 pins handicap each game throughout the entire event, an equality handicap provided to women in all European Bowling Tour events.

Total 48 players advance to the finals on Sunday, Sept. 14 including the top 42 players from the qualifying standings and the top 6 players from the Desperado Squad. The top 4 qualifiers earn two byes while qualifiers 5-12 receive a first-round bye.

The first three rounds of Sunday's finals consist of four games scratch, which will cut the field to 30, 20 and then 8 players who will determine the champion in three match-play rounds over two game total pins. 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 winners of the semifinal matches bowl for the title and the 2.500 top prize, while the losers meet in a roll-off for third and fourth place.

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 at Bowling Chamartín in Madrid, Spain, immediately following the III Brunswick Madrid Challenge.