Glenn Morten Pedersen wins qualifying in 27th Irish Open Championships

    01/18/15

    2015 European Bowling Tour #2

    Norwegian leads a field of 92 players into the finals; England's Joe Allsebrook, Lisa John crack the top 10 in the last squad; score to make the cut in 80th place is 1284 214 average)

    2014EBT16GlennMortenPedersen.jpg2015EBT02AmandaLarkin.jpgGlenn Morten Pedersen (pictured left) of Norway remained unchallenged in the last two qualifying squads Saturday at Leisureplex Stillorgan in Dublin, Ireland en route to win the qualifying in the 27th Irish Open Championships by Seismic. The long-time national team toppled 1517 pins, an average of 252.83, to lead the 187-player field from 13 countries.

    Chris Sloan from Ireland tied Pedersen but was seeded second due to the new EBT tie rules (instead of the higher last game, scores are recalculated after the lowest game is cancelled). Amanda Larkin (right), Ireland, was the best of 36 women in third place with 1449 including 48 pins handicap. Fourth place belonged to Sigbjørn Eide, Norway, with 1426.

    Two English women national team members, Joe Allsebrook and Lisa John led the 15th and last qualifying squad on their way to crack the top 10. Allsebrook rolled 1371 scratch including high games of 257 and 255 and added 48 pins handicap to jump into fifth place with 1419 total.

    Rounding out the top 6, who earned two byes for the finals was her compatriot Ron Hurt with 1412.

    Alan McDonnell, Ireland, was just one pin behind with 1411 to lead a group of six players who received a first-round bye. John finished her six-game block with a huge 289 game and 1407 total to land in eight place.

    2015EBT02LolEllis.jpgPlaces 9-11 belonged to Jason Agate, England, who had the lone 300 game of the tournament so far, and Irishmen Paddy Dunne and Karl Doherty, all on 1406. Paul Green of Wales hit the cutoff number for top 12 with 1404 or an average of 234.00.

    Lol Ellis (pictured left), England, who led Squad 14 on Saturday morning with 1383 including six games between 204 and 256 finished qualifying in 18th place. James Fitzpatrick, Netherlands, took the 80th and last place to advance to the finals with 1284 and an average of 214.00 including handicap.

    The top 80 will be joined in the finals by the top 4 each of squads 1-5 and 6-10 and the top 4 of the one-game Desperado Squad, Chris Maughan (246), England; Aaron Faulconbridge (243), England; Aoife Hall (226), Ireland; and Bianca Wiekeraad (220), Netherlands.

    2014ITBALogo_small.jpg The 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 - Standings after Qualifying and Desperado Squad


    Top 88 plus the top 4 from the Desperado Squad (places 89-92) advance to the finals. Top six earn two byes, places 7-12 plus the top 4 of Squads 1-5 and 6-10 (places 14, 15, 21, 22, 25, 26, 28 and 33) earn one bye.

     

    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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