Martina Beckel, Ron Oldfield win Flanders Senior Open from top-seed

    07/22/15

    2015 ISBT #7

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    Seeded first in the women's and men's stepladder finals, Martina Beckel (left) of Germany and England's Ron Oldfield (right) rolled big games to win the Flanders Senior Open Sunday, July 19th, at Euro Bowling Deurne in Antwerp, Belgium.

    Beckel edged Liliane Vintens, Belgium, for the wome's title, 248-245, while Oldfield defeated André Geelen, Belgium, 280-255 (all scores including age bonus pins).

    It was the fourth career ISBT title for Beckel and her second this season, while Oldfield earned his first title in 2015 and the 10th of his career.

    The seventh stop on the 2015 International Seniors Bowling Tour was a return to the popular venue of Euro Bowling in Deurne, Belgium, which attracted a disappointing entry list of only 61 men and 12 women.

    This was the third consecutive weekend of ISBT tournaments, which seemed to be proving too much for many bowlers, and once again the support from local Belgian bowlers was disappointing.

    The format for the tournament was similar to the earlier Euro 50 event, in that there was only a single six-game qualifying block, with unlimited re-entries. For those not able to qualify through the main leaderboard, there were additional opportunities through Turbo games, scratch scores and a Desperado squad.

    Age bonus started at age 51 (1 pin per game), then increased a pin for every additional year of age with no limit. As with all ISBT events, there was a separate division for ladies.

    The first squad on Wednesday evening was won by a female bowler, Liliane Vintens of Belgium with 1301 including age bonus. There were two further squads on Thursday, the first being won by Luciano Di Rella of Italy with 1331, the second by Marc Wildemeersch of Belgium with 1316. Vintens was again top lady in this squad, but could not improve with 1270.

    The first squad on Friday saw the first very big block, with André Geelen of Belgium hitting 1450 to take an early lead at the top of the qualification list. In the next squad, Ron Oldfield of England finished with 1421 to be just behind André Geelen.

    Top lady was Angie Brown of England with 1172. The last squad of the day saw Vladimir Dvorak of Czech Republic lead with 1347. Top lady was again Vintens, but she again just fell short of her previous total with 1291.

    A small squad early on Saturday morning was won by André Duchemin with 1295, closely followed by yet another block by Vintens just under the 1300 mark. The next squad was won by Arthur Dähn, Germany, just falling short of 1400 by a single pin. Top lady was again Brown, this time with a much improved score of 1336 to take the lead in the overall rankings.

    With just two squads remaining, Geelen was top of the overall qualification list, followed by Oldfield and Dähn. Brown lead in the ladies section, ahead of Vintens and Inge Hazeleger of Netherlands.

    The last but one squad saw Ian Buckland of England find the form which had eluded him in the earlier squads, posting 1453, to now be top qualifier. Top lady was Kimberly Oakley, whose 1241 meant she may make a top 4 finish, and miss the first final round.

    The final qualifying squad was won by Giorgio Desimio of Belgium with 1435. Martina Beckel of Germany had a slightly better block with 1233, but just came up a few pins short of 4th place and missing the first finals round in 5th place.

    In the final qualification rankings, Buckland was top with 1453, just ahead of Geelen, Desimio and Oldfield, all of which would miss the first two finals rounds. Players in places 5 to 8 would miss one final round, eighth place was Mo Singleton of England with 1383.

    The cut for the first finals round was 24th place, which was tied between Les Grant of England and Pekka Tiironkoski of Finland on 1318. Les Grant gained the place on the tie break rule.

    Three scratch qualifiers also progressed to the finals, led by Alan Keddie of Scotland with a scratch score of 1292, along with three Turbo qualifiers.

    In the ladies section, Brown was top of the leaderboard with 1336, ahead of Vintens, Hazeleger and Oakley. Eighth place qualifier was Marianne Pelz with 1109. As there were twelve places available in the finals, and only 12 entrants, all the ladies would go forward to the finals.

    The final men's places in the first final round would be decided by a Desperado squad. The two final bowlers who would qualify for Sunday were Valentin Fatu of Romania and Hermann Wimmer of Germany.

    For the men who had qualified through the Scratch standings, Turbo and Desperado, and those from 9th to 24th in the main standings, there was an early start on Sunday to bowl four games starting from scratch to see who would progress further.

    Only the top 12 would make the cut, and leading the way were Keddie and Klaus-Uwe Lischka of Germany both on 927. Twelfth and last qualifier was Mike Halliwell of England with 856.

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    The twelve (pictured above) who advanced were then joined by qualifiers 5 to 8 for a further four games, again starting from scratch. This block was won by Helmut Ulber of Germany with 969. The top eight would go forwards to the next round, the bowler in eighth place being Dähn on 846.

    2015ISBT07AndreGeelenRonOldfieldLolEllis.jpg The top four from qualifying now joined the eight qualifiers for a final 4 game block, this round being comfortably won by Oldfield with 992, ahead of Geelen and Lol Ellis of England. These three would now play a stepladder final.

    In the first match, Geelen easily won over Ellis, 276-241. Geelen then faced Oldfield in the title match. Oldfield started with a spare, then hit five strikes in a row to open up a clear lead, and finish as the winner, 280-255, taking his tenth ISBT title.

    L-R Geelen, Oldfield and Ellis.

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    The women's semi-final round was a close run round, with Beckel just taking top position with 840 from Pelz. The top four from qualifying then joined the top four from the previous round (pictured above), and again Beckel finished at the top with 947, some distance ahead of Pelz and Vintens. As with the men's section, the top three would play a stepladder final.

    2015ISBT07LilianeVintensMartinaBeckelMariannePelz.jpg In the first match, Vintens had a close win over Marianne Pelz, 220-216. In the title match, Beckel started with the first five strikes, to gain an early lead. Vintens then clawed back into the match, but in the end could not pass the German, with Beckel becoming champion, 248-245, to secure her fourth ISBT title.

    L-R Vintens, Beckel and Pelz.

    The next stop is the Dutch Senior Open, which takes place at Chandra Bowling, in Nieuwegein from July 29 to August 2. Full details are available at ISBTBowlingTour.eu.

    Report and results by Tony Brown.

     


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    Flanders Senior Open - Men's Stepladder Finals


    Euro Bowling Deurne in Antwerp, Belgium (July 15-19, 2015)

    Championship Round:
    1. Ron Oldfield, England
    2. André Geelen, Belgium
    3. Lol Ellis, England

    Playoff Results:
    First Match: No. 2 Geelen (257+19) def. No. 3 Ellis (226+15), 276-241
    Championship: No. 1 Oldfield (256+24) def. Geelen (236+19), 280-255.

     


    Flanders Senior Open - Women's Stepladder Finals


    Euro Bowling Deurne in Antwerp, Belgium (July 15-19, 2015)

    Championship Round:
    1. Martina Beckel, Germany
    2. Liliane Vintens, Belgium
    3. Marianne Pelz, Germany

    Playoff Results:
    First Match: No. 3 Vintens (212+8) def. No. 2 Pelz (202+14), 220-216
    Championship: No. 1 Beckel (242+6) def. Vintens (237+8), 248-245.

     


    Flanders Senior Open - Men's Finals


    Top 3 advance to the stepladder finals.

     


    Flanders Senior Open - Women's Finals


    Top 3 advance to the stepladder finals.

     


    Flanders Senior Open - Men's Semifinals


    Top 8 advance to the next round.

     


    Flanders Senior Open - Women's Semifinals


    Top 4 advance to the next round.

     


    Flanders Senior Open - Men's Quarterfinals


    Top 12 advance to the next round.

     


    Flanders Senior Open - Men's Qualifying


    Top 24 plus the top three scratch bowlers (places 26, 29 and 30), top 3 Turbo bowlers (places 36, 37 and 53) and top 2 of the Desperado Squad (places 28 and 42) advance; top four qualifiers earn two byes, places 5 to 8 get one bye.

     


    Flanders Senior Open - Women's Qualifying


    All 12 bowlers advance.

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