Germany's Martina Beckel, Carlo Greulich capture the titles at 2015 Dutch Senior Open

    08/07/15

    2015 ISBT #8

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    2015ISBT08MartinaBeckelCarloGreulich.jpgMartina Beckel and Carlo Greulich of Germany (pictured left, l-r) captured the women's and men's title at the 2015 Dutch Senior Open Sunday, Aug. 2, at Chandra Bowling in Nieuwegein, Netherlands.

    It was the first title this season for Greulich who repeated his victory from 2014. Beckel won her second consecutive title on the International Seniors Bowling Tour and the third this season to break a tie with two-time winners Angie Brown of England and Italy's Alessandra Morra.

    The eighth stop on the 2015 ISBT was a return to the 16-lane Chandra Bowling in Nieuwegein (pictured above), Netherlands. The Dutch Senior Open always attracts a large number of entries and is always well supported by local bowlers. With 124 men and 38 women taking part, the numbers included 71 Dutch bowlers, making this the largest tournament on the 2015 schedule.

    The format for the tournament was a single qualifying block of eight games, with unlimited re-entries. For those not able to qualify through the main leaderboard, there were additional opportunities through Turbo games.

    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 saw André Geelen of Belgium in the lead with 1857 including age bonus. In the women's section, Alice Muller of Netherlands was top with 1448.

    Thanks to sponsorship from Storm Bowling, both the men and lady winners of each of the ten qualifying squads would receive a Storm double ball bag. Additionally, Storm kindly donated two balls to be won in a draw held at the Saturday night meal.

    The second squad saw a sharp increase in the scoring pace, with Dutch bowlers Ron van den Bogaard winning with 1805 and Marianne Verhoef taking the ladies top position with 1517.

    2015ISBT08StevenJeevesGuusCramer300.jpg There were a further two squads held on Thursday, the first being won by Owe Hermann of Norway with 1921 and Nel Tel of Netherlands with 1557. This squad also saw a 300 game from Guus Cramer of Netherlands (pictured with Steven Jeeves of England, left, who had the only other 300 game in this tournament).

    The second squad of the day was lower scoring in the men's section, with Marc Wildermeersch of Belgium leading with 1716. In the women's section, the top three bowlers all beat the previous highest score, led by defending women's champion Farida Pascoal-Blom, Netherlands, with 1719, ahead of Liliane Vintens, Belgium, 1592 and Inge Hazeleger, Netherlands, 1571.

    Friday saw three further squads. Juha Lehtikangas of Finland led the first squad with 1778, a single pin ahead of Giovanni Galetti of Italy. Karen Barfoot of England took top honors in the women's section with 1538.

    The second squad of the day saw Kalle Gaiser, Germany, finish top with 1806 and Angie Brown of England leading the ladies with 1656. The Friday evening squad saw a feast of high scoring. Vincent Wuylens of Belgium, had a very strong block to finish with 2025, a 252 scratch average.

    Close behind was his compatriot Marc Wildermeersch with 1935. The ladies section also saw a new leader with Vintens scoring 1764, followed in this squad by Maria-Grazia Locatelli of Italy with 1616.

    At the end of Friday's qualifying, Wuylens had a substantial lead of almost 100 pins over Wildermeersch, Hermann and Geelen. The top four would miss the first finals round, but there were still three more qualifying squads to bowl on Saturday. The women's standings were being led by Vintens ahead of Pascoal-Blom and Brown.

    The first squad on Saturday was won convincingly by Lol Ellis of England with 1919. His fellow countryman Steven Jeeves also scored well, bowling the second 300 of the tournament in his fourth game.

    Making her first appearance in the tournament, Martina Beckel of Germany posted a score of 1609 that looked certain to reach the qualification standard. The second squad of the day was lower scoring in the men's division, with Jürgen Preuss of Germany being top with 1781.

    However, there was no let-up in the women's division with Marianne Pelz of Germany shooting a fine 1677 to secure her place in the finals. The last qualifying squad was won by Alan Jenkins of England with 1787 to secure his qualifying spot. Jan Hodge of England tied the last squad with compatriot Kim Oakley on 1507, however this was not enough to allow either bowler to progress to the finals.

    After completion of all the qualifying, Vincent Wuylens was top qualifier with 2025, ahead of Marc Wildermeersch, Owe Hermann and Lol Ellis. These four would all miss the quarter final round.

    The cut for the final fell at Rinaldo Ineichen of Switzerland with 1722 in a tie with Ron Deacon of England, who just missed out. In the ladies section, Liliane Vintens was top, followed by Farida Pascoal-Blom and Marianne Pelz. Saturday night is traditionally kept for a meal for all the participants, and this year was no exception. What made this occasion special was that it was the tenth running of the Dutch Senior Open by Ad and Henny van der Jagt, and this was celebrated with some gifts bought on behalf of all those who have enjoyed the tournament over the years.

    Very early on Sunday morning, men qualifiers 5 to 32, plus the four Turbo qualifiers bowled six games, with only the top 16 progressing to the semi-final. This was easily led by Carlo Greulich of Germany on 1444, ahead of Ron Oldfield of England (1398) and Werner Laun of Germany (1385). Last qualifier was Alan Jenkins of England with 1294.

     

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    The semifinals for both the men and ladies followed on and Greulich also just followed on, leading this four-game round with 1013, a scratch average of 246. As 50 percent of the pinfall from this round would carry forward into the final, this gave Greulich an immediate advantage.

    Trailing behind were Guy Latry of Belgium and Oldfield in second and third places. Only the top eight (pictured above) would make the final, this place going to Steven Jeeves of England.

    In the ladies section, Farida Pascoal-Blom continued to bowl well and led with 802, closely followed by Liliane Vintens (792) and Angie Brown (786). Eighth place qualifier was Maria Grazia Locatelli of Italy, with 730. The picture below shows the top 8 women.

     

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    Both finals were played in round robin format, with 30 pins for a win and 15 for a tie.

    2015ISBT08MenTop3.jpg In the men's final, the question was: Could anyone catch Carlo Greulich? After starting with games of 266, 213 and 259 in his first three matches, the answer was no. Greulich (center) continued to bowl strongly to finish with a scratch average of 232 and retain his title from 2014.

    Ron Oldfield (left) continued to bowl steadily to get second place, and a late charge by Steven Jeeves (right) was rewarded by his first ISBT podium position in third place.

    2015ISBT08WomenTop3.jpg The ladies final was a similar story with Martina Beckel (center) averaging over 20 pins more than the remainder of the field to secure an easy win, including games of 290 and 245 along the way.

    The battle for second place went down to the last game. A 242 game from Angie Brown looked like gaining her the position, but by closing out her last game with five consecutive strikes, Marianne Pelz (left) took the position by one pin, leaving Brown (right) in third place.

    The next stop on the 2015 International Seniors Bowling Tour is the Senior Open Dream Bowl Palace, which will be held at the fabulous Dream-Bowl Palace in Munich, Germany. The tournament runs from August 30 to September 6. Full details are available at ISBTBowlingTour.eu.

    Report and results by Tony Brown.

     


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    2015 Dutch Senior Open - Women's Round Robin Match Play (Final Standings)

     


    2015 Dutch Senior Open - Men's Round Robin Match Play (Final Standings)

     


    2015 Dutch Senior Open - Women's Semifinals


    Top 8 advance to round robin match play with 50% of the score from the semifinal carrying through.

     


    2015 Dutch Senior Open - Men's Semifinals


    Top 8 advance to round robin match play with 50% of the score from the semifinal carrying through.

     


    2015 Dutch Senior Open - Men's Quarterfinals


    Top 16 advance to Semifinals.

     


    2015 Dutch Senior Open - Women's Qualifying


    Top 10 plus two players from Turbo games advance.

     


    2015 Dutch Senior Open - Men's Qualifying


    Top 32 plus four players from Turbo games advance. Top 4 qualifiers earn one bye.

    300 games (2) - Guus Cramer, Steven Jeeves.

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