Four players from the final squad make it to the finals of the Brunswick Euro Challenge
03/18/07
Swede Marcus Berndt, Piritta Kantola from Finland, Konstantinos Lyratzis, Greece and Michael Loos from Austria, waited until the 27th and final qualifying squad to book their spots for Sunday's finals of the Brunswick Euro Challenge at Strike Bowling Club in Thessaloniki, Greece.
Osku Palermaa (right), Finland, who shot one of five perfect games in the qualifying, led the field of 321 players from 32 countries with 1430 six-game total and an average of 238.33.
3-time defending European ranking champions, Paul Moor (left), England, and Britt Bröndsted, Denmark landed in second and third with 1428 and 1406, resp. Rounding out the top 5 were Finns Reija Lunden and Mika Luoto with 1404 and 1399.
Berndt had a high game of 266 and finished with three consecutive games over 220 to win the squad with 1357 six-game total and an average of 226.17. He finished qualifying in 21st place, just 19 pins off the top 16, who earned a bye for the first round of the finals. England's Stuart Williams (right) took the 16th and final spot with 1376.
Kantola (left) had a slow start with three sub-par games but finished with 236, 258 and 242 to jump into 30th place with 1345 including the women's handicap of 48 pins.
Lyratzis fired a 255 game in the sixth to crack the 1300-bar and to help grab the 50th place with 1309.
Loos (right) had 575 after the first three games, then rolled 230 and 223 and finished with a huge 276 to hit the cutoff number for 52nd place with 1304, or an average of 217.33.
The top six players from the qualifying squads conducted from March 9 to 11 not among those 52 also advanced and were seeded 53rd through 58th: Dimitrios Karetsos (left), Brett Pahoulis, Agelos Tsouroupis, Nikolaos Siotas, Kostas Papakostas and Anastasia Rovithaki (right), all from Greece.
Rounding out the total 64 players that advanced to Sunday's finals were the top six players from the Desperado Squad. 84 olayers took on the lanes at Strike Bowling Club and the six players, who survived were:
Daniel Fuertes, Germany, 255; Jennifer Tan, Singapore, 254; Kai Guenther, Germany, 246; Stefanos Kazantzis, Greece, 234; Eugeniya Smirnova, Russia, 234 and Robert Andersson (pictured right) , Sweden, 233, who is a specialist when it comes to hitting a cutoff number.
Pictured left is Renos Stavrakis, 81, former Minister of Transport in Cyprus and Founder of the Cyprus Tenpin Bowling Federation about 29 years ago.
Still an active bowler, Mr. Stavrakis bowled two squads in the BEC including the final squad on Saturday evening.
He rolled games of 194, 158, 189, 173, 145 and 139 to finish in 290th place with 989 six-game total and an average of 164.83.
Bowlingdigital covers the finals live from Strike Bowling Club in Thessaloniki.
The top 16 qualifying leaders will bypass the first round. The other 48 finalists roll six games at 9am 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.
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 €.
Squad 27 Results
Desperado Squad
Qualifying Standings
Latest Results
2007 European Bowling Tour #5
Strike Bowling Club in Thessaloniki, Greece (March 9-18, 2007)
Swede Marcus Berndt, Piritta Kantola from Finland, Konstantinos Lyratzis, Greece and Michael Loos from Austria, waited until the 27th and final qualifying squad to book their spots for Sunday's finals of the Brunswick Euro Challenge at Strike Bowling Club in Thessaloniki, Greece. Osku Palermaa (right), Finland, who shot one of five perfect games in the qualifying, led the field of 321 players from 32 countries with 1430 six-game total and an average of 238.33. 3-time defending European ranking champions, Paul Moor (left), England, and Britt Bröndsted, Denmark landed in second and third with 1428 and 1406, resp. Rounding out the top 5 were Finns Reija Lunden and Mika Luoto with 1404 and 1399. Berndt had a high game of 266 and finished with three consecutive games over 220 to win the squad with 1357 six-game total and an average of 226.17. He finished qualifying in 21st place, just 19 pins off the top 16, who earned a bye for the first round of the finals. England's Stuart Williams (right) took the 16th and final spot with 1376. Kantola (left) had a slow start with three sub-par games but finished with 236, 258 and 242 to jump into 30th place with 1345 including the women's handicap of 48 pins. Lyratzis fired a 255 game in the sixth to crack the 1300-bar and to help grab the 50th place with 1309. Loos (right) had 575 after the first three games, then rolled 230 and 223 and finished with a huge 276 to hit the cutoff number for 52nd place with 1304, or an average of 217.33.
The top six players from the qualifying squads conducted from March 9 to 11 not among those 52 also advanced and were seeded 53rd through 58th: Dimitrios Karetsos (left), Brett Pahoulis, Agelos Tsouroupis, Nikolaos Siotas, Kostas Papakostas and Anastasia Rovithaki (right), all from Greece. Rounding out the total 64 players that advanced to Sunday's finals were the top six players from the Desperado Squad. 84 olayers took on the lanes at Strike Bowling Club and the six players, who survived were:
Daniel Fuertes, Germany, 255; Jennifer Tan, Singapore, 254; Kai Guenther, Germany, 246; Stefanos Kazantzis, Greece, 234; Eugeniya Smirnova, Russia, 234 and Robert Andersson (pictured right) , Sweden, 233, who is a specialist when it comes to hitting a cutoff number.Pictured left is Renos Stavrakis, 81, former Minister of Transport in Cyprus and Founder of the Cyprus Tenpin Bowling Federation about 29 years ago.
Still an active bowler, Mr. Stavrakis bowled two squads in the BEC including the final squad on Saturday evening.
He rolled games of 194, 158, 189, 173, 145 and 139 to finish in 290th place with 989 six-game total and an average of 164.83.
Bowlingdigital covers the finals live from Strike Bowling Club in Thessaloniki.
The top 16 qualifying leaders will bypass the first round. The other 48 finalists roll six games at 9am 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.
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 €.
Squad 27 Results
Desperado Squad
Qualifying Standings
Latest Results