Sweden's Jesper Svensson wins qualifying of 45th Brunswick Ballmaster Open

    01/11/15

    2015 European Bowling Tour #1

    Saturday's squad leaders Parker Bohn III (USA), Dominic Barrett (ENG) and Sandra Andersson (SWE) finish qualifying in the top 10; Rodolfo Madriz (CRC) hits the cutoff number with 1342 (223.67); Kim Bolleby (THA) shoots 300 in the Desperado Squad

    2014MWCJesperSvensson.jpg2015EBT01PatriciaLuoto.jpgJesper Svensson (pictured left), a two-handed lefty from Sweden, won the qualifying of the 45th Brunswick Ballmaster Open Saturday at Tali Bowling Center in Helsinki, Finland, worth 1.500 Euro.

    The three-time European Bowling Tour titlist and 2013 BBO champion averaged 244.67 and toppled 1468 pins in the 10th qualifying squad to lead the field of 494 players from 17 countries.

    Places 2 and 3 belonged to the top female bowlers in the field, Shayna Ng, of Singapore (1437) and Patricia Luoto (above right) of Germany (1428), who pocketed 1.000 Euro and 500 Euro, respectively.

    201213PBAParkerBohn2.jpg2015EBT01SandraAndersson.jpgPBA and USBC Hall of Famer Parker Bohn III (left) won the first and the last squad on Saturday. Starting the day in 40th place with 1325, the 33-time PBA champion posted 1370 in Squad 13 and 1423 in Squad 17 to jump into fourth place in the overall standings.

    England's Dominic Barrett led Squad 15 with 1412 but stayed in sixth place with his high series of 1418. Sandra Andersson (right; photo Seija Lankinen) of Sweden totaled 1411 in Squad 16 to land in eighth place.

    2014MWCKimmoLehtonen.jpg2014EBT11MikaKoivuniemi.jpgTwo-time BBO champion Kimmo Lehtonen (left; 2002 & '07) was the top Finnish qualifier in 11th place with 1401, while his compatriot and defending champion Mika Koivuniemi (right), who owns record four BBO titles (1998, 2010, '11 & '14), made the cut in 28th place with 1358.

    Rodolfo Madriz of Costa Rica took the 44th and last spot to advance from qualifying with 1342 and an average of 223.67. The top 44 will be joined in the finals by the top 4 of the Desperado Squad.

    2014EBT04KimBolleby.jpgFormer Swedish youth national team member Kim Bolleby (right), who now represents Thailand, won the Desperado Squad by rolling the fourth 300 game of the tournament. Also advancing were Peter Hellström, Sweden (254); Mika Heino, Finland (248) and Kert Truus, Finland (247).

    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) ran through Saturday, Jan. 10. Women 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 - qualified for the finals on Sunday, Jan. 11. The qualifying winner received a 1.500 Euro bonus. The first and second runner-up got 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 - Standings after Qualifying and Desperado Squad


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

     


    300 games (4) - Sami Lampo, Linus Boström, Markus Melanen (all from Finland), Kim Bolleby, Thailand.

    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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