Nick Froggatt (left) from England rolled games of 257, 222 and 247 to move up one spot and to overtake the lead in the 1st Maribor Open Strike Tournament after Final Round Four at Strike Bowling Center in Maribor, Slovenia. The lefty averaged 241.17 over the last six games and felled 1447 pins.

The top 8 players advanced to the next round and will bowl another three games to cut to the top 4 for the Live TV stepladder finals starting at 6 p.m.

Five Swedes made the cut for Round 5. Places 2-4 belong to Tony Fransson (1418), Erik Andersin (1409) and Martin Larsen (1405). Pär Svensson is sixth with 1387, while 16-year-old Kim Bolleby hit the cutoff number with 1364, an average of 227.33.

Froggatt's compatriot Paul Moor moved into fifth place with 1389 after he rolled the highest three-game of the round with 729 including a 279 game at the end. Pasi Uotila, Finland, tied Bolleby at 1364 but landed in seventh place due to the higher last game, 247 to 197.

Luca Osella started the round with the tournament's second 300 game but missed the cut by 29 pins after finishing with 170 and 182.

Luca Osella, Italy, shoots 300

 

A total of 56 players qualified for the finals of the 1st Maribor Open Strike Tournament on Sunday, Sep. 16 at Strike Bowling Center in Maribor, Slovenia: The top 52 in the overall qualifying standings and the top 4 Desperados.

Qualifiers 1-14 earned two byes, while qualifiers 15-28 bypassed the first round. The top 14 from Final Round One advanced and met qualifiers 15-28 in Final Round Two. The top 14 after another three games from scratch qualified for Round 3 and bowled against the top 14 qualifiers.

The pinfall from Round 3 is carried forward. The field is trimmed to 16, then 8 and 4 (all rounds over three games). The four remaining players bowl for the title and the 8.000 Euro top prize in a traditional stepladder format based on the standings after Round 5.

Bowlingdigital will cover the event live from Maribor all the way through to the finals on Sunday, September 16. The four-player stepladder finals will be broadcasted live on Slovenian television in a two-hour show from Strike Bowling Center.