Gery Verbruggen tops Hammer Bronzen Schietspoel Tournament 2015 after opening day

    02/09/15

    2015 European Bowling Tour #3

    Belgian lefty averages 232.67 to lead a field of 61 players from four countries after two of fourteen qualifying squads

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    Former World and European champion Gery Verbruggen (pictured left) got off to a great start in Sunday's opening squad at the Hammer Bronzen Schietspoel Tournament 2015, finishing with a six-game total of 1396 (232.67 average) to lead a field of 61 players from Belgium, France, Poland and the host country Netherlands at Dolfijn Bowling Tilburg.

    The Belgian lefty, who led the European Bowling Tour's point ranking in its first four years (2000-2003), had games of 236, 226, 267, 223, 233 and 211. The finals of the event will be held on Sunday, February 15.

    Verbruggen's fellow countryman Christophe Hermans paced the second squad on Sunday afternoon behind six games between 248 and 214 to sit in second place overall with 1363 and an average of 227.17.

    2013EBT04YoanAlix.jpg2014EBT03JeffreyvandeWakker.jpgYoan Alix (left) of France was next to Verbruggen in the opening squad with 1345 (224.17) to sit in third place. Next was Kelly Plummen, who was the best Dutch bowler on day one and the best of seven women in the field so far with 1292 scratch (215.33) and 1340 total including handicap.

    Rounding out the top six were Jeffrey van de Wakker (right; 1337), Netherlands, and Koen Pellegroms (1322), Belgium. The top 6 players of the first five squads will earn automatic berths into the finals. The top 6 at the end of the qualifying will receive a first-round bye.

    Qualifying continues on Monday, February 9 with Squad 3 scheduled to start at 8 p.m. local time (CET).

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    The Hammer Bronzen Schietspoel Tournament 2015 is the third event of the 2015 European Bowling Tour and the first of three "EBT Silver" events this season, the third highest of the four EBT categories.

    The HBST will be held from Sunday, February 8 through Sunday, February 15 at 20-lane Dolfijn Bowling Tilburg in Tilburg, Netherlands.

    Players will compete for total prize money of 44.400 Euro with 6.000 Euro going to the winner, 4.000 to the runner-up and 3.000 and 2.000 to third and fourth place finishers, respectively. Low to cash is 46th place (400 Euro). The qualifying leader gets a 1.000 Euro bonus.

    Qualifying runs through Saturday, February 14 with the final qualifying Squad 14 scheduled for 6 p.m. CET followed by the ultimate one-game Desperado Squad slated for 9.30 p.m. Women receive 8 pins handicap each game (maximum score is 300), an equality handicap provided to women in all EBT events.

    A total of 46 players including the top 36 qualifiers, the top 4 from the Desperado Squad and the top 6 from a separate leaderboard of Squads 1-5 conducted Feb. 8-11 will advance to the finals. The top 6 qualifiers will receive a first-round bye.

    Players ranked 7 to 46 will bowl four games with the top 18 players joining the top six qualifiers (seeded 1-6) in the eliminator finals. Those 24 players will be divided into six groups of four players each for the first of four eliminator rounds.

    All four players of each group will bowl a two-game match with the two lowest scoring players eliminated. The two highest scoring players advance to the next round. In the first round four "lucky losers" (four highest third-place finishers) also advance.

    The field will be cut to 16, 8 and then four players, who determine the top 4 spots in the last eliminator round.

    2015EBTLogo_small.jpg The 2015 European Bowling Tour currently consists of 18 tournaments in 14 countries featuring three "Platinum" events, three "Gold", three "Silver" and nine "Satellite" events. All 18 tournaments together offer total prize fund of roughly 900.000 Euro (approx. 1.024 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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    Hammer Bronzen Schietspoel Tournament 2015 - Qualifying Standings after Squad 2/14


    The top 36 qualifiers plus the top 6 from a separate leaderboard of Squads 1-5 and the top 4 from the Desperado Squad will advance to the finals. The top 6 qualifiers will receive a first-round 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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