Jesper Svensson, Shayna Ng move to the top in 45th Brunswick Ballmaster Open

    01/09/15

    2015 European Bowling Tour #1

    Finland's Linus Boström, Markus Melanen roll 300 in the sixth game of Squad 9; score to make the cut in 44th place is 1275 (212.50)

    2014EBT16JesperSvensson.jpg2015AIKShaynaNg.jpgFresh off his victory in the 35th AIK International Tournament Jesper Svensson (pictured left) of Sweden posted a 1468 series in the 10th qualifying squad Thursday at Tali Bowling Center in Helsinki, Finland, to move to the top of the 430-player leaderboard in the 45th Brunswick Ballmaster Open.

    The two-handed lefty had games of 269, 248, 289, 247, 223 and 192, an average of 244.67. Shayna Ng (right) of Singapore, who overtook the lead in Squad 9 on Thursday morning, slipped to second place. Ng rolled games of 213, 247, 190, 223, 248 and 268 for 1389 scratch, an average of 231.50, and added 48 pins women's handicap for 1437 total.

    Previous leader Patricia Luoto of Germany fell to third place with 1428 and was followed by two-time Ballmaster champion Kimmo Lehtonen (2002 & '07) and Sami Lampo, both of Finland, with 1401 and 1388, respectively.

    2015EBT01MarkusMelanenLinusBostrom.jpgJoonas Jähi of Finland was next to Svensson in Squad 10 with 1378 including a 279 in the last game to leap into sixth place in the overall qualifying standings. Christopher Sloan, a two-hander from Ireland and Swede Mattias Olsson tied at 1366 in Squad 9 to finish the day in seventh and eighth place.

    Finns Linus Boström and Markus Melanen (pictured left, l-r; photo Seija Lankinen) closed out Squad 9 with bang, rolling the second and third 300 game of the tournament (Lampo had the first in Squad 5).

    With 10 of 17 squads in the books, Mikko Pietilä of Finland holds the 44th and last place to advance to the finals with 1275 and an average of 212.50. Qualifying continues on Friday, January 9 with Squads 11-13 scheduled to start at 11 a.m., 3 and 7 p.m. local time (CET +1).

    2015BallmasterLogo_small.jpg The 45th Brunswick Ballmaster Open is the opening event of the 2015 European Bowling Tour and the first of three "EBT Platinum" events this season, the highest of the four EBT categories.

    The BBO, which is also the sixth stop of the 2015 World Bowling Tour, will be held from Friday, January 2 through Sunday 11, 2015 at 36-lane Tali Bowling Center in Finland's capital city Helsinki.

    Players will compete for total prize money of up to 121.800 Euro including all extra prizes with 13.000 Euro going to the winner, 9.000 to the runner-up and 6.000 and 4.000 to the third and fourth place finishers, respectively. Low to cash is 48th place, worth 1.100 Euro.

    The 2015 BBO also offers a 3.000 Euro bonus for the first 300 game (5.000 if it is the only 300 game in the tournament) and a 20.000 Euro extra prize for a 300 game in Round Robin or the TV stepladder finals (300eXtra rules). The maximum a bowler can win in this year's event is 40.800 Euro.

    According to an agreement between World Bowling and the Professional Bowlers Association (PBA), the Ballmaster Open will award a PBA title, if won by a PBA member.

    Qualifying (six games, unlimited re-entries) runs through Saturday, Jan. 10, and ends with Squad 17 followed by the ultimate one-game Desperado Squad slated for 11.30 p.m. local time (CET +1).

    Women will receive 8 pins handicap each game (up to 292 - maximum score is 300), an equality handicap provided to women in all EBT events.

    A total of 48 players - the top 44 from the overall qualifying standings plus the top 4 from the Desperado Squad - qualify for the finals on Sunday, Jan. 11. The qualifying winner receives a 1.500 Euro bonus. The first and second runner-up get 1.000 and 500 Euro, respectively.

    All 48 finalists bowl eight games scratch with the top 16 advancing to the match play portion. Those 16 bowl further 15 games of round robin match play (no position round) with the Round 1 total carried over.

    Players earn 30 bonus pins for each match won and 15 for a tie. The top 4 players after 23 games including bonus pins determine the champion in a traditional stepladder final.

    The No. 4 seed meets the No. 3 in the opening match. The winner takes on the No. 2 seed for the right to bowl the top seed for the title, the 13.000 Euro top prize and 250 EBT and 50 WBT ranking points.

    The stepladder finals, which are supposed to start at 6 p.m. local time, will be broadcast by the national TV in Finland. A live stream will be available for international viewers.

    2015EBTLogo_small.jpg The 2015 European Bowling Tour currently consists of 21 tournaments in 15 countries featuring three "Platinum" events, four "Gold", three "Silver" and eleven "Satellite" events. All 21 tournaments together offer total prize fund of roughly 1 million Euro (approx. 1.22 million U.S. Dollar).

    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 9th EBT Masters July 25, 2016 at Rose'n Bowl in Serravalle, San Marino following the San Marino Open.

    WBTLogo_small.jpg The 2015 World Bowling Tour, which actually got underway in 2014 with the PBA World Championship, currently consists of 20 tournaments including seven "majors" in the Middle East (9), United States (6), Asia (3), Europe (2).

    Players earn ranking points based on how they finish in each event. The current points system is based on a continuous two-year cycle, so some points earned in 2013 and all points from the 2014 and 2015 are added to determine the points list.

    The top three men and top three women in the WBT points list will be invited to compete in the 2015 World Bowling Tour Finals in the beginning of 2016.

    World Bowling provides governance to international bowling and is made up of 134 bowling international federations. For more information on the World Bowling Tour, click here.

     


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    2015 Brunswick Ballmaster Open - Qualifying Standings after Squad 10/17


    The top 44 plus the top 4 from the Desperado Squad will advance to the finals on Sunday, Jan. 11

     


    Tie Rules (Qualifying)
    In case of a tie in the qualifying, "the highest positioned player will be the player scoring the highest total of all counting qualification games minus the score of the lowest game. If a tie still exists, the highest positioned player will be the player with the highest total of all counting qualification games minus the score of the two lowest games, etc."

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