Five players crack the top 10 Friday at 45th Brunswick Ballmaster Open

    01/10/15

    2015 European Bowling Tour #1

    Sweden's Jesper Svensson continues to lead the 475-player field with 1468 (244.67); score to make the cut in 44th place is now 1323 (220.50)

    2015EBT01MartinLarsen.jpg

    2015EBT01DominicBarrett.jpgMartin Larsen of Sweden (pictured left; photos Seija Lankinen) and England's Dominic Barrett (right) posted 1418 series to lead Friday's qualifying and to move into fourth and fifth place in the 45th Brunswick Ballmaster Open at Tali Bowling Center in Helsinki, Finland.

    Three-time European Bowling Tour titlist and 2013 BBO champion Jesper Svensson, Sweden, continued to lead the 475-player field from 17 countries, 425 men and 50 women, with 1468 and an average of 244.67.

    Barrett, who owns 10 EBT titles and four Professional Bowlers Association titles, rolled games of 231, 212, 257, 257, 214 and 247 to pace Squad 11. Larsen, an 8-time EBT champion, sandwiched games of 184, 246, 191 and 279 between a pair of 259 games to lead Squad 12 and to push Barrett to fifth place according to the tie rules (scroll down to the bottom of the standings).

    2014EBT16PaulMoor2.jpg2015EBT01MagnusJohnsson.jpgAll-time EBT title leader Paul Moor (left; 15 titles) of England closed out his set with 279 and 269 to finish just five pins behind Larsen to overtake sixth place with 1413. Magnus Johnsson Jr. (right) was further eight pins behind with 1405, good for eighth place overall.

    Seventh place belonged to Steve Novak, United States, who was second to Barrett in Squad 11 with 1408 including high games of 259 and 257. Tony Ranta of Finland led the 13th squad on Friday evening with 1377 including a 275 high game.

    With 13 of 17 qualifying squads completed, Tim Gillick, USA, holds the 44th and last place to advance to the finals with 1323 and an average of 220.50. Qualifying continues on Saturday, January 10 with Squads 14-17 scheduled to start at 8 a.m., noon, 4 and 8 p.m. local time (CET +1) and concludes with the one-game Desperado Squad slated for 11.30 p.m.

    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 13/17


    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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