Glenn Morten Pedersen takes over pole position in 27th Irish Open

    01/17/15

    2015 European Bowling Tour #2

    Norwegian ties previous leader Chris Sloan (IRE) at 1517 and takes advantage of the new EBT tie rules; three players of Squad 13 crack the top 10; Squad 10 & 12 leaders move into the 14th and 15th place; Jason Agate (ENG) rolls the first 300 game; score to make the cut in 80th place is now 1246 (207.67 average)

    2015EBT02GlennMartenPedersen.jpg2015EBT02ChristopherSloan.jpgStarting Friday's qualifying in seventh place Glenn Morten Pedersen (pictured left) of Norway put together an impressive 1517 series to take over the pole position in the 27th Irish Open Championships by Seismic at Leisureplex Stillorgan in Dublin, Ireland.

    The Norwegian national team member came out of the gates commandingly with 290-289 and added 218, 255, 228 and 237 to tie previous leader Chris Sloan (right) from Ireland averaging 252.83 for six games.

    Due to the new EBT tie rules (instead of the higher last game, scores are recalculated after the lowest game is cancelled) Pedersen (low game of 218) overtook the Irish two-hander (low game of 244) based on the higher five-game total, 1299 to 1273.

    2015EBT02AmandaLarkin.jpg2015EBT02SigbjornEide.jpgAmanda Larkin (left), Ireland, stayed in third place with 1449 including 48 pins handicap and is the best of 35 women in the 183-player field from 12 countries.

    Three players of Squad 13 cracked the top 10 in the last squad on Friday. Sigbjörn Eide (right), Norway, led the way with 1426, good for fourth place overall. Eide rebounded from a slow start (193) with games of 239, 235, 266, 279 and 214, an average of 237.67.

    Ron Hurt of England was mere 14 pins behind in fifth place with 1412 including a high game of 290. Jason Agate set the highlight by rolling the first 300 game of the event in the third game of his 1406 series (low game 186). Agate moved into seventh place, just five pins behind Alan McDonnell, Ireland, who fell from third to sixth place with 1411.

    Rounding out the top 10 were Paddy Dunne (low game 201) and Karl Doherty (low game 208), also with 1406, followed by Paul Green of Wales 1404.

    2015EBT02BillyNimick.jpg2015EBT02EricVanSabben.jpgPBA Hall of Famer Brian Voss, United States, who led Squad 9 Thursday night with 1392, Squad 12 leader Erik van Sabben (right), Netherlands, with 1384 and Squad 10 leader Billy Nimick (left), Northern Ireland, with 1374 positioned themselves in 13th to 15th place.

    Heading into the last qualifying day, Andrea Hansen (below right) from the big Norwegian group in Dublin (more than 40 people) holds the 80th and last place to advance to the finals with 1246 and an average of 207.67 including handicap.

    Qualifying continues on Saturday, January 17 with Squads 14 & 15 scheduled to start at 8.30 and 12.30 local time (CET -1) and concludes with the Desperado Squad slated for 15.45. The first round of the finals will start at 17.15 (places 49-80 & four desperados) and 19.45 (places 13-48), respectively, with the second round to follow at 22.15.

    2014ITBALogo_small.jpg 2014ECCAndreaHansen.jpgThe 27th Irish Open Championships by Seismic is the second event of the 2015 European Bowling Tour and the first of eleven "EBT Satellite" events this season, the lowest of the four EBT categories.

    The Irish Open, which will be held from January 11-18 at 18-lane Leisureplex Stillorgan in Dublin, Ireland, is back on the EBT after an eight-year hiatus after being part of the Tour in the 2005 and 2006 seasons.

    Players will compete for total prize money of 20.000 Euro with 5.000 Euro going to the winner, 2.500 to the runner-up and 1.500 and 1.250 to the third and fourth place finishers, respectively. Low to cash is 32nd place, worth 100 Euro. The top 8 women are guaranteed extra prizes (from 1.000 to 100 Euro) which will be awarded no matter what place they finish in.

    Qualifying (six games, unlimited re-entries) runs from Sunday, January 11, through Saturday, January 17, and ends with Squad 15 followed by the ultimate one-game Desperado Squad slated for 15.45 Greenwich Mean 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.

    Total 92 players - the top 80 from the overall qualifying standings, the top 4 from a separate standing of squads 6-10, the top 4 from a separate standing of squads 1-5, plus the top 4 from the Desperado Squad - qualify for the finals.

    The top six qualifiers receive two byes and qualifiers 7-12 and the top four players each of squads 1-5 and squads 6-10 earn a first-round bye.

    The remaining 72 finalists bowl four games scratch with the top 31 advancing to another four-game block scratch to cut to the top 26. Those 26 and the top six qualifiers bowl six games scratch with the top 16 advancing to the single-elimination match play finals with the two-game total determining the winner.

    The highest seeded player will meet the lowest seeded player, the second highest seeded player will meet the second lowest seeded player, etc.

    The field will be trimmed to eight, four and then two players who bowl for the title and the 5.000 Euro top prize (6.000 Euro if won by a woman).

    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.

     


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    2015 Irish Open - Qualifying Standings after Squad 13 (by Bowlingdigital)


    Top 80 from the overall qualifying standings, the top 4 from a separate standing of squads 6-10, the top 4 from a separate standing of squads 1-5, plus the top 4 from the Desperado Squad will advance to the finals.

     


    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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