Battle for qualifying spots heats up at Brunswick Euro Challenge
03/16/07
Some of Europe's and Asia's finest bowlers set the highlights in the 15th qualifying squad in the Brunswick Euro Challenge at Strike Bowling Club in Thessaloniki, Greece this afternoon. Former World Cup champion Peter Ljung (left) won the squad with a 1377 six-game series and an average of 229.50.
Ljung, who finished with his high game of 243 and started with a 207 low, moved into third place in the qualifying standings, trailing only leader Leonidas Maragos, Greece, 1395, and second-placed Rodrigo Hermes, Brazil, 1390.
Lee Yu-Wen (left), one of six Singaporeans in the tournament and a lefty like Ljung, posted the second 300-game of the tournament in the second game en route to a 1330 pinfall total, good enough for fifth place.
Wu Siu Hong from Hong Kong, who won the Vienna Open, last year rolled a 1324 series to land in seventh place. Yu-Wen's team mate Shaun Ng (right) shot the third perfecto in game #3 en route to a 1321 pinfall total to overtake the 8th place. Another lefty, Kimmo Lehtonen (pictured right), and two-hander Osku Palermaa, the reigning World Cup champion, both from Finland, were fifth and sixth in the 15th of 25 squads, to move into 11th and 18th place with 1311 and 1283, resp.
Qualifying continues on Thursday with 16 at 8pm local time and ends on Saturday, March 17 with the 27th and final qualifying squad scheduled for 8pm followed by the Desperado Squad, the ultimate one-game chance to qualify for the finals on Sunday, March 18.
Bowlingdigital will cover the event live from Thessaloniki commencing March 15 all the way through to the TV finals on Sunday.
The BEC is the fifth stop of the 2007 European Bowling Tour and one of the Tour's "Majors". Since the cancellation of the Viernheim Open, the Brunswick Euro Challenge is the richest event on the 2007 European Bowling Tour.
The total prize fund for the Open Division, Women and B-Bowlers plus special prizes is 90.000 Euro (approx. US$116,600). The Open Division champion will pocket 16.000 €.
A total of 64 players will qualify for the finals on Sunday, March 18. The top 52 from the qualifying, the top six from the qualifying squads conducted March 9-11 not among those 52 and the top 6 from the Desperado Squad.
The top 16 qualifying leaders will bypass the first round. The other 48 finalists roll six games starting from scratch. The top 16 will join the 16 qualifying leaders in the best-of-three games single elimination finals. The highest ranked player will bowl the lowest seed, etc.
The rounds of 32, 16 and 8 trim the field from 16, to eight, then to four. The remaining four players will be seeded 1 to 4 for the stepladder finals to determine the champion in three one-game matches: No. 4 vs. No. 3, winner vs. No. 2, winner vs. No. 1.
Squad 15 Results
Qualifying Standings
Latest Results
2007 European Bowling Tour #5
Strike Bowling Club in Thessaloniki, Greece (March 9-18, 2007)
Some of Europe's and Asia's finest bowlers set the highlights in the 15th qualifying squad in the Brunswick Euro Challenge at Strike Bowling Club in Thessaloniki, Greece this afternoon. Former World Cup champion Peter Ljung (left) won the squad with a 1377 six-game series and an average of 229.50. Ljung, who finished with his high game of 243 and started with a 207 low, moved into third place in the qualifying standings, trailing only leader Leonidas Maragos, Greece, 1395, and second-placed Rodrigo Hermes, Brazil, 1390.
Lee Yu-Wen (left), one of six Singaporeans in the tournament and a lefty like Ljung, posted the second 300-game of the tournament in the second game en route to a 1330 pinfall total, good enough for fifth place. Wu Siu Hong from Hong Kong, who won the Vienna Open, last year rolled a 1324 series to land in seventh place. Yu-Wen's team mate Shaun Ng (right) shot the third perfecto in game #3 en route to a 1321 pinfall total to overtake the 8th place. Another lefty, Kimmo Lehtonen (pictured right), and two-hander Osku Palermaa, the reigning World Cup champion, both from Finland, were fifth and sixth in the 15th of 25 squads, to move into 11th and 18th place with 1311 and 1283, resp. Qualifying continues on Thursday with 16 at 8pm local time and ends on Saturday, March 17 with the 27th and final qualifying squad scheduled for 8pm followed by the Desperado Squad, the ultimate one-game chance to qualify for the finals on Sunday, March 18.
Bowlingdigital will cover the event live from Thessaloniki commencing March 15 all the way through to the TV finals on Sunday. The BEC is the fifth stop of the 2007 European Bowling Tour and one of the Tour's "Majors". Since the cancellation of the Viernheim Open, the Brunswick Euro Challenge is the richest event on the 2007 European Bowling Tour.
The total prize fund for the Open Division, Women and B-Bowlers plus special prizes is 90.000 Euro (approx. US$116,600). The Open Division champion will pocket 16.000 €.
A total of 64 players will qualify for the finals on Sunday, March 18. The top 52 from the qualifying, the top six from the qualifying squads conducted March 9-11 not among those 52 and the top 6 from the Desperado Squad.
The top 16 qualifying leaders will bypass the first round. The other 48 finalists roll six games starting from scratch. The top 16 will join the 16 qualifying leaders in the best-of-three games single elimination finals. The highest ranked player will bowl the lowest seed, etc.
The rounds of 32, 16 and 8 trim the field from 16, to eight, then to four. The remaining four players will be seeded 1 to 4 for the stepladder finals to determine the champion in three one-game matches: No. 4 vs. No. 3, winner vs. No. 2, winner vs. No. 1.
Squad 15 Results
Qualifying Standings
Latest Results