Tommy Jones improves by 33 pins to leap two spots into fifth place

    10/03/15

    2015 European Bowling Tour #14

    Last year's runner-up shoots 1449 series in Squad 15; Joonas Jähi (FIN) holds on to the lead with 1473; with one more squad to go, No. 8 score to beat to earn one bye is 1412, while No. 52 score to beat to advance to Sunday's finals is 1307 (217.83 average)

    2015EBT14TommyJonesOskuPalermaaBanner.jpg

     

    2015EBT14TommyJones3.jpg2015EBT14JoonasJahi.jpgStarting the penultimate qualifying squat at the 13th Columbia 300 Vienna Open in seventh place with 1416, just four pins ahead of eighth place which guarantees a first-round bye for Sunday's finals, 16-time PBA champion Tommy Jones (pictured left and above with Osku Palermaa), United States, improved by 33 pins to leap two spots into fifth place with 1449 and an average of 241.50 for six games.

    Jones, who finished second in last year's Vienna Open, had games of 248, 278, 217, 235, 269 and 202. Joonas Jähi (right) of Finland leads the 263-player field from 26 countries, 67 women and 196 men, since Squad 7 with 1473 and an average of 245.50.

    2015EBT14MichaelLoos.jpg2015EBT14ThomasLarsen.jpgMichael Loos (left) is the top Austrian bowler in second place with 1463 and is followed by Francois Louw of South Africa with 1458 and Thomas Larsen (right) of Denmark with 1453.

    Squad 14 leader Pasi Uotila of Finland slipped to sixth place with 1445 with Stuart Williams of England in seventh place on 1422.

    Rounding out the top 8, who will be seeded into the second round of the finals, is 2009 Vienna Open champion Thomas Gross, Austria, with 1412 or an average of 235.33.

    2015EBT14MathieuBerges.jpg2015EBT14YifatTalOrAviram.jpgMathieu Bergès (left) of Switzerland became the 11th bowler in this year's event who cracked the 1400-mark. Bergès rolled games of 241, 234, 235, 218, 217 and 258 to overtake 10th place with 1403 (233.83).

    The next three player in Squad 15 positioned themselves in 22nd to 24th place. Former World Cup and European Champions Cup winner, Or Aviram (pictured right with Yifat Tal), of Israel, who started his series with back-to-back 278 games, tied Danish two-handed player Marcus Bergendorff at 1380.

    2015EBT14JesperSvensson2.jpg2014ECCSannaPasanen.jpgCurrent European Bowling Tour men's point ranking leader Jesper Svensson (left) of Sweden, was just five pins behind with 1375 including five games between 213 and 224 and a high game of 285.

    The No. 52 score to advance to the finals has surpassed the 1300-mark. Sanna Pasanen (right) of Finland is "on the bubble" with 1307 or an average of 217.83 including handicap.

    Qualifying in Vienna is traditionally contested as a Doubles tournament. Jones and two-time Vienna Open champion Osku Palermaa of Finland (2005 & 2011) were the only team in Squad 15 that moved into the top 20, who will cash at the end of the qualifying.

    2015EBT14ThomasGrossFrancoisLouw.jpg2015EBT14DomBarrettStuWilliams.jpgJones led the way with 1449 and the Finnish two-hander added 1277 to propel the duo into 8th place with 2726 total and an average of 227.17.

    Gross and Louw (left, l-r), continued to lead with 2822 (235.17) and have to wait until the last squad to see if their score will hold up for the lead. In case it will they would split the 1.600 Euro top prize.

    England's PBA champions Dom Barrett and Stu Williams (right, l-r) sit in second place with 2809 followed by Palermaa and Martin Larsen (below right, l-r) of Sweden, who have totaled 2789 pins.

    2015EBT14OskuPalermaaMartinLarsen.jpgQualifying commences on Saturday, October 3, with Squad 16 scheduled to start at 8 p.m. Central European Summer Time (CEST) and concludes with the one-game Desperado Squad slated for 11.30 p.m.

    2015ViennaOpenLogo_small.jpg The 13th Columbia 300 Vienna Open is the 14th tournament on the 2015 European Bowling Tour and the last of just three EBT "gold" events this season, the second-highest of the four EBT tournament categories.

    The VO 2015 will be held from Sept. 28 - Oct. 4 at Plus Bowling, a 32-laner in Vienna, Austria. Players will compete for total prize fund of 73.130 Euro - 62.900 € in Singles and 10.230 € in Doubles.

    BowlingdigitalBanner.gif For the 13th consecutive year, Bowlingdigital.com will provide onsite coverage of the 13th Columbia 300 Vienna Open commencing Thursday, Oct. 1, all the way through to the stepladder finals on Sunday afternoon, Oct. 4. All qualifying squads on Oct. 2 & 3 and Sunday's finals are being broadcast live on Bowlingdigital's YouTube channel.

    The singles champion will take home the 7.000 € top prize, the first runner-up earns 5.000 € and the third and fourth-place finishers get 3.500 € and 2.500 €, respectively. 64 players will cash in Singles, which has a last-to-cash payout of €. The Doubles tournament will pay a 1.600 € first prize and a 20-place prize list (300 € last-to-cash).

    The complete tournament information can be found in the Vienna Open Preview.

    2015EBTLogo_small.jpg The 2015 European Bowling Tour currently consists of 16 tournaments in 12 countries featuring three "Platinum" events, three "Gold", three "Silver" and seven "Satellite" events. All 16 tournaments together offer total prize fund of 850.000 Euro.

    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 12th San Marino Open.

     


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    2015 Vienna Open Singles - Standings after Qualifying Squad 15/16


    The top 52 qualifiers, the highest-positioned player who was not among the top 52 from each of the first 8 squads and the top 4 from the Desperado Squad will advance to the finals.

    Singles - Players currently qualified for the finals
    Doubles - Overall Standings
    Singles Squad 15
    Doubles Squad 15

    300 games (5) - Joonas Jähi, Jenny Wegner, Thomas Larsen, Stuart Williams, John Wells.

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