Ghislaine van der Tol tied Aaron Kong from Malaysia 477-477 in the title match of the 3rd Storm San Marino Open and was declared the winner due the "highest last game" ruling. In the final over two games total pinfall, Kong led after game #1 by 20 pins, 222-202 (including 8 pins handicap) but van der Tol rebounded with a 275-game to Kong's 255 to level the match. Pictures courtesy of BC Cheah.

According to the rules the highest last game made the difference and the Dutch won the title and the 10.000 Euro top prize. Is was the second consecutive EBT title for van der Tol, who won the women's Malta Open last month.

The 13-player Malaysian national squad was well represented in the finals as Aaron Kong (l.) and his team mates Sharon Koh (second from right) and Shalin Zulkifli (right) reached the semi-finals. Kong eliminated reigning World Youth Masters champion Koh in a high-scoring encounter, 502-499 while Van der Tol ousted Zulkifli, 464-399.

Kong earned 5.00 € for second place. Koh and Zulkifli received 3.000 € each for third and fourth place, respectively.

Winners of Final Round Five. Single elimination, two games total pinfall.

Winners of Final Round Four. Single elimination, two games total pinfall.

Winners of Final Round Three. Single elimination, two games total pinfall.

Players seeded 1-6 from the qualifying standings and the top 10 from Final Round Two. Single elimination, two games total pinfall.

Players seeded 7-12 from the qualifying standings and the top 18 from Final Round One rolled four games from scratch.

Players seeded 13-38 from the qualifying standings, the top 3 players from the Desperado Squad (places 39-41), the top 4 players from squads 1-4 (places 42-45) and the top 3 players from squads 5-7 (places 46-48) roled foru games from scratch. Top 18 advanced.

Osku Palermaa (pictured), the two-hander from Finland, won the qualifying in 3rd Storm San Marino Open at Rose’n Bowl in Serravalle, San Marino, with 1526 pinfall total and an average of 254.33. The current European ranking leader pocketed 800 Euro for his very high and consistent series with games of 257, 245, 259, 244, 256 and 265.

Palermaa (right) and the next five players earned two byes and will be seeded 1-6 in the match play Round of 16.

Joining Palermaa in this elite group were three out of 13 Malaysian national team members in the field, World Youth Masters champion Sharon Koh, who was the best woman in the field in second place with 1498 including 8 pins handicap each game, Siti Safiyah Amirah (4th, 1474) and Alex Liew (6th, 1473).

3-time defending European Ranking champion Paul Moor (left), England, currently second in the rankings, was third at 1484 and Serge Frouvelle, France, finished qualifying in fifth place with 1473.

Among the players ranked 7th-12th, who will bypass the first round of the finals were Mark Buffa, Canada (8th, 1450), Ghislaine van der Tol, Netherlands (10th, 1427), Martin Larsen, Sweden (12th, 1422) as well as another three Malaysians, Zulmazran Zulkifli (7th, 1453), Adrian Ang (9th, 1430) and Daniel Lim (11th, 1423).

Qualifying was concluded on Saturday night with the ultimate one-game Desperado Squad. Italian Marco de Angelis and American Tim Mack (left) secured their spots in the finals with huge games, 278 and 270, respectively. Dane Jesper Agerbo grabbed the last spot with 258.

48 players overall - the top 38 players from qualifying, and the top 3 players from the Desperado Squad, the top 4 players from a Squads 1-4 and the top 3 players from squads 5-7 not among the top 38 - advanced to the finals. Swede Robert Andersson (right) hit the cutoff number for 38th place with 1372, a 228.67 average.

All finalists but the top 12 will bowl 4 games from scratch. The top 18 advance. Those 18 plus the qualifying finishers 7-12 will bowl another 4-game set starting from scratch to cut to the top 10, who will be seeded 7-16 in the match play Round of 16. Match play format is two games total pinfall. The field will be trimmed to 8, then 4 than 2, who will bowl for the title and the 10.000 Euro top prize.

The top 38 players from the qualifying standings, the top 3 players from the Desperado Squad (places 39-41), the top 4 players from squads 1-4 (places 42-45) and the top 3 players from squads 5-7 (places 46-48) advanced to the finals.

European all Events champion and current European ranking leader Osku Palermaa (pictured left), Finland, held on to the lead in the qualifying of the 3rd Storm San Marino Open at Rose’n Bowl in Serravalle, San Marino. The two-hander felled 1526 pins, an average of 254.33 over six games.

Sharon Koh, one of 13 Malaysian national team members in the field, led Friday morning's Squad 11 with 1450 scratch, a 241.67 average, and 1498 including the 48 pins women's handicap to overtake the second place.

Koh, who won the Masters at the 9th World Youth Championships in Berlin last year, and her team mates Zandra Aziela, Siti Safiyah Amirah and Choy Poh Lai battle it out for the remaining three spots on Team Malaysia for the Women's World Championships in Monterrey next month.

Amirah is currently in 4th place with 1474 pinfall total, with Aziela in 14th place at 1417 and Lai in 20th place at 1406.

Three-time defending European Ranking Champion Paul Moor (pictured right), England, currently the No. 2 in the ranking behind Palermaa, is sandwiched between Koh and Amirah in third position with 1484.

Serge Frouvelle, France, led Squad 12 with 1473 to move into fifth place in the overall standings. Rounding out the top six is Malaysia's Alex Liew, who also felled 1473 pins but has the lower last game, 258 to 248.

Other Squad leaders on Friday were Jean-Marc Lebon, Belgium, who topped Squad 13 with 1410, good enough for 19th place and Ebru ÖzoÄŸluuntur (left), Turkey, who set the pace in Squad 14 on Friday evening with 1380 including 48 pins women's handicap to sit in 27th place.

ÖzoÄŸluuntur is one of ten women among the top 38 who will qualify for the finals through the overall qualifying standings.

Notables outside the top 38 are 44. Wendy Chai, Malaysia 46. Vanessa Fung, Hong Kong 47. Nick Froggatt, England 48. Kai Virtanen, Finland 52. Wu Siu Hong, Hong Kong 53. Mads Sandbaekken, Norway 62. Britt Brøndsted, Denmark 65. Nicole Sanders, Netherlands 94. Isabelle Saldjian, France 102. Geremia Salvagno, Italy 106. Michaela Göbel, Germany 108. Amedeo Spada, Italy 117. Tim Mack, United States 123. Abdulla Al Qattan, Qatar 124. Yoan Alix, France 126. Mathieu Bergès, Switzerland 153. Anja Ginge Jensen, Denmark 163. Pontus Halvarsson, Sweden and 197. Jesper Agerbo, Denmark.

Qualifying ends on Saturday with Squads 15-18 and the ultimate one-game Desperado Squad. 48 players overall - the top 4 players from a Squads 1-4, the top 3 players from squads 5-7, the top 38 players from the qualifying standing and the top 3 players from the Desperado Squad - will advance to the finals. The qualifying leader will receive an 800 Euro bonus.

The top six from the qualifying will earn two byes and will be seeded 1-6 in the match play Round of 16, while players ranked 7th-12th will bypass the first round. The other 36 players will bowl 4 games from scratch. The top 18 advance.

Those 18 plus the qualifying finishers 7-12 will bowl another 4-game set starting from scratch to cut to the top 10, who will be seeded 7-16 in the match play Round of 16. Match play format is two games total pinfall. The field will be trimmed to 8, then 4 than 2, who will bowl for the title and the 10.000 Euro top prize.

Four women led Squad 11 in the qualifying of the 3rd Storm San Marino Open Friday morning at Rose’n Bowl in Serravalle. World Youth Masters champion Sharon Koh, Malaysia, had 1450 scratch, a 241.67 average, and 1498 including the 48 pins women's handicap to jump into second place trailing leader Osku Palermaa, Finland, by 28 pins.

Her team mate Siti Safiyah Amirah had 1474 to overtake fourth place just 10 pins behind Paul Moor, England, who is third with 1484. Ghislaine van der Tol (right), Netherlands, who won the women's title in the Malta Open Championships last month, moved into 7th place behind a 1427 series today.

Zandra Aziela (left), Malaysia, who targets her second consecutive European title after winning the Czech Open last Sunday, was fourth with 1390 but remained in 12th place in the overall standings with 1417.

Qualifying continues on Friday with Squads 12-14. 48 players overall - the top 4 players from a Squads 1-4, the top 3 players from squads 5-7, the top 38 players from the qualifying standing and the top 3 players from the Desperado Squad - will advance to the finals. The qualifying leader will receive an 800 Euro bonus.

The top six from the qualifying will earn two byes and will be seeded 1-6 in the match play Round of 16, while players ranked 7th-12th will bypass the first round. The other 36 players will bowl 4 games from scratch. The top 18 advance.

Those 18 plus the qualifying finishers 7-12 will bowl another 4-game set starting from scratch to cut to the top 10, who will be seeded 7-16 in the match play Round of 16. Match play format is two games total pinfall. The field will be trimmed to 8, then 4 than 2, who will bowl for the title and the 10.000 Euro top prize.

Osku Palermaa (pictured), the two-hander from Finland, rolled six games between 244 and 265 to become the first player, who cracked the 1500-bar in the qualifying of the 3rd Storm San Marino Open at Rose’n Bowl in Serravalle.

Palermaa, who won the gold medal in All Events at the Men's European Championships in Austria earlier this month overtook the lead with 1526 pinfall total and an average of 254.33.

3-time defending ranking champion Paul Moor (right), England, slipped to second place with 1484. Both players are also the frontrunners for this year's ranking title.

Places 3 to 5 belonged to players from the Malaysian Squad. Alex Liew (left) is third at 1473, with Adrian Ang fourth (1430) and Daniel Lim fifth (1423).

Swede Martin Larsen (right), currently the number three in the Men's European Ranking, moved into sixth place with 1422 including a 299 game, the high score of the tournament … thus far.

Qualifying will continue on Friday with Squads 11 through 14. 48 players overall - the top 4 players from a Squads 1-4, the top 3 players from squads 5-7, the top 38 players from the qualifying standing and the top 3 players from the Desperado Squad - will advance to the finals. The qualifying leader will receive an 800 Euro bonus.

The top six from the qualifying will earn two byes and will be seeded 1-6 in the match play Round of 16, while players ranked 7th-12th will bypass the first round. The other 36 players will bowl 4 games from scratch. The top 18 advance.

Those 18 plus the qualifying finishers 7-12 will bowl another 4-game set starting from scratch to cut to the top 10, who will be seeded 7-16 in the match play Round of 16. Match play format is two games total pinfall. The field will be trimmed to 8, then 4 than 2, who will bowl for the title and the 10.000 Euro top prize.

Within two squads, overnight leader Choy Poh Lai from Malaysia fell seven spots to eighth place in the qualifying of the 3rd Storm San Marino Open.

Three-time defending ranking champion Paul Moor, England, overtook the lead with 1484 six-game total and an average of 247.33. Moor had games of 265, 279 and 289 in games 3 to 5 but missed the 1500-bar due to a 188 final game.

Places 2-4 belong to the Malaysian squad with Alex Liew second (1473), Adrian Ang third (1430) and Daniel Lim fourth (1423.

Nunzio Romano, Italy is fifth with 1421, while Malaysia's Zandra Aziela (right), who won the Czech Open last weekend, is the top-ranked woman in sixth place with 1417 including 48 pins handicap. World Ranking Masters champion Stuart Williams, England, is seventh at 1410. Choy is eighth with 1406.

Qualifying will continue on Thursday with Squads 9 and 10. 48 players overall - the top 4 players from a Squads 1-4, the top 3 players from squads 5-7, the top 38 players from the qualifying standing and the top 3 players from the Desperado Squad - will advance to the finals. The qualifying leader will receive an 800 Euro bonus.

The top six from the qualifying will earn two byes and will be seeded 1-6 in the match play Round of 16, while players ranked 7th-12th will bypass the first round. The other 36 players will bowl 4 games from scratch. The top 18 advance.

Those 18 plus the qualifying finishers 7-12 will bowl another 4-game set starting from scratch to cut to the top 10, who will be seeded 7-16 in the match play Round of 16. Match play format is two games total pinfall. The field will be trimmed to 8, then 4 than 2, who will bowl for the title and the 10.000 Euro top prize.

Frode Aaneby rolled a 1388 six-game series Wednesday at Rose’n Bowl in Serravalle en route to earn a spot for the finals in the 3rd Storm San Marino Open.

The Norwegian had games of 214, 246, 212, 221, 268 and 227 to lead Squad 7 and to grab the third place in the combined standings of Squads 5-7. The top 3 from this list qualified for the finals.

The two others were and Choy Poh Lai (right) and Aaron Kong, both Malaysia, who shot 1406 (including 48 pins women's handicap) and 1390 in Squad 6 on Wednesday, respectively.

With 145 players from 14 countries in the books, Lai, Kong and Aaneby also overtook the lead in qualifying, which will continue on Thursday with Squads 8-10 and an additional Squad 8B at 9 a.m. local time (GMT +1).

48 players overall - the top 4 players from a Squads 1-4, the top 3 players from squads 5-7, the top 38 players from the qualifying standing and the top 3 players from the Desperado Squad - will advance to the finals. The qualifying leader will receive an 800 Euro bonus.

The top six from the qualifying will earn two byes and will be seeded 1-6 in the match play Round of 16, while players ranked 7th-12th will bypass the first round. The other 36 players will bowl 4 games from scratch. The top 18 advance.

Those 18 plus the qualifying finishers 7-12 will bowl another 4-game set starting from scratch to cut to the top 10, who will be seeded 7-16 in the match play Round of 16. Match play format is two games total pinfall. The field will be trimmed to 8, then 4 than 2, who will bowl for the title and the 10.000 Euro top prize.

Fresh off their successful performance at the Czech Open (top three spots, 8 players among the top 12) the Malaysian National squad (pictured) dominated the sixth qualifying squad in the 3rd Storm San Marino Open on Tuesday.

Choy Poh Lai, Aaron Kong and Wendy Chai led the squad, followed by Hong Kong's Wu Siu Hong and another four Malaysian players Shalin Zulkifli, Esther Cheah, Daniel Lim and Alex Liew.

Poh Lai (right) had games of 199, 267, 248, 217, 227 and 200 for 1358 six-game pinfall, an average of 226.33, and added 48 pins handicap (all female bowlers receive 8 pins handicap each game in all tournaments on the European Bowling Tour) to become the first player in this year's San Marino Open who cracked the 1400-bar with 1406.

Her teammate Kong (left) shot a 1390 series for the field-best 231.67 average to move into second place in the overall standings. Chai had 1351 including handicap, good enough for 6th place.

Siu Hong, who already has an EBT title under his belt after winning the 2006 Vienna Open, is 9th with 1335.

Zulkifli, Cheah, Lim and Liew sit in 10th, 13th, 14th and 16th position, respectively. The top three from the Czech Open, winner Zandra Aziela (1134), Siti Safiyah Amirah (1276) and Zulmazran Zulkifli (1208) could not match the pace of their team mates but have plenty of time to improve their scores as the San Marino Open offers unlimited re-entries.

Malaysia's coach Holloway Cheah, father of world champion Esther Cheah, is using the Czech Open and the San Marino Open to select the six players for the Women's World Championship 2007 in Monterrey, Mexico.

Esther as well as Wendy Chai (left) and Shalin Zulkifli will be definitely on the team and Aziela has practically secured her spot with the victory in the Czech Open. Amirah, Poh Lai and Sharon Koh, Masters champion in the 9th World Youth Championships in Berlin, will battle it out for the remaining two spots.

Qualifying will continue on Wednesday with Squads 7 (20.00) and an additional Squad 7B (16.00). 48 players overall - the top 4 players from a Squads 1-4, the top 3 players from squads 5-7, the top 38 players from the qualifying standing and the top 3 players from the Desperado Squad - will advance to the finals. The qualifying leader will receive an 800 Euro bonus.

The top six from the qualifying will earn two byes and will be seeded 1-6 in the match play Round of 16, while players ranked 7th-12th will bypass the first round. The other 36 players will bowl 4 games from scratch. The top 18 advance.

Those 18 plus the qualifying finishers 7-12 will bowl another 4-game set starting from scratch to cut to the top 10, who will be seeded 7-16 in the match play Round of 16. Match play format is two games total pinfall. The field will be trimmed to 8, then 4 than 2, who will bowl for the title and the 10.000 Euro top prize.

Pictures courtesy of BC Cheah.

Italian bowlers continue to set the tone in the 3rd Storm San Marino Open at Rose’n Bowl in Serravalle, San Marino.

Pier Fanizza, Marco Zordan, Marco Padovani and Marco Reviglio have secured their spot in the finals after finishing 1st to 4th an the first weekend,

Enrico Maddaloni posted a 1349 six-game series on Monday to lead Squad 5 with an average of 224.83. The top 3 players from the combined standings of Squads 5-7 will advance to the finals if the fail to qualify from the overall qualifying standings.

Maddaloni is currently in fourth position. Fanizza (left) continued to lead with 1372.

Qualifying will continue on Tuesday with Squad 6. 48 players overall - the top 4 players from a Squads 1-4, the top 3 players from squads 5-7, the top 38 players from the qualifying standing and the top 3 players from the Desperado Squad - will advance to the finals. The qualifying leader will receive an 800 Euro bonus.

The top six from the qualifying will earn two byes and will be seeded 1-6 in the match play Round of 16, while players ranked 7th-12th will bypass the first round. The other 36 players will bowl 4 games from scratch. The top 18 advance.

Those 18 plus the qualifying finishers 7-12 will bowl another 4-game set starting from scratch to cut to the top 10, who will be seeded 7-16 in the match play Round of 16. Match play format is two games total pinfall. The field will be trimmed to 8, then 4 than 2, who will bowl for the title and the 10.000 Euro top prize.

Marco Reviglio from Italy led the third qualifying squad in the Storm San Marino Open with 1346 six-game total to move into fourth place in the overall qualifying standings. As the top 4 players remained unchallenged in the fourth and final squad on Sunday, Reviglio and the top 3 qualifying leaders of the first four squads earned a spot in the finals.

Joining Reviglio in the finals on Sunday, June 22, are his compatriots Pier Fanizza, who continues to lead the qualifying with 1372, Marco Zordan (1353) and Marco Padovani (1352).

Qualifying will continue on Monday with 5. 48 players overall - the top 4 players from a Squads 1-4, the top 3 players from squads 5-7, the top 38 players from the qualifying standing and the top 3 players from the Desperado Squad - will advance to the finals. The qualifying leader will receive an 800 Euro bonus.

The top six from the qualifying will earn two byes and will be seeded 1-6 in the match play Round of 16, while players ranked 7th-12th will bypass the first round. The other 36 players will bowl 4 games from scratch. The top 18 advance.

Those 18 plus the qualifying finishers 7-12 will bowl another 4-game set starting from scratch to cut to the top 10, who will be seeded 7-16 in the match play Round of 16. Match play format is two games total pinfall. The field will be trimmed to 8, then 4 than 2, who will bowl for the title and the 10.000 Euro top prize.

Italians set early pace in 3rd Storm San Marino Open