Stian Olsen, Ann Louise Haugen (pictured) and Aleksander Kvinnesland closed out the year 2007 with victory in the men's women's and junior division of the Drammen X-mas Tournament 2007 at Bowling 1 in Drammen, Norway.

The tournament is the third of six events to determine the Norwegian representatives for the 2008 QubicaAMF Bowling World Cup (venue to be determined). Besides the Evje Open, 2007 Norwegian Open and the Drammen X-mas Tournament the Norwegian Bowling Federation (NBF) has chosen the Lillehammer Bowling Tournament (March), Nordland Tournament (April) and the Norwegian Championships (May).

Olsen posted a 1780 8-game series to finish the qualifying in 10th place with a 222.50 average. Svein Roger Olsen (right) led the 119 player field with 1889 and an average of 236.12.

The Norwegian national team member and Geir Ståle Kristiansen (2nd; 1831), Andre Langrin Hansen (3rd; 1800) and Glenn Tore Andersen (4th; 1797) earned one bye and bypassed the first round of the finals, which featured qualifiers 5th through 26th who bowled three games from scratch.

Former international Sverre Lund (left) rolled a 721-series (238, 267, 216) to lead the top 12 into the next round. Lars Lindbäck (right), Sweden, set the high light when he finished his set with the sole 300-game of the tournament to land in second place with 719.

Olsen took the 12th and final spot with 634. The pinfall was dropped and the remaining 16 players bowled another three-game set from scratch.

Glenn Morten Pedersen (left), Norway's 2007 World Cup representative, led the way with 741 (269, 204, 268), followed by Stian Olsen (713), Lund (694) and Alexander Halvorsen (659).

Also advancing the quarterfinals were Rune Herold Andersen, Thomas Fagerstrøm, and the biggest surprise of the tournament, vice president of the NBF and member of the host bowling club Drammen Tigers, Kjetil Johansen. Qualifying leader Svein Roger Olsen took the 8th and final spot with 630.

The top 4 won their best-of-three game matches and advanced to the semi-finals. No. 1 seed Pedersen topped Halvorsen, in the semis, 233-188, while No. 2 Olsen almost achieved perfection in his 299-223 victory over Lund. Olsen carried the momentum into the title match and defeated Pedersen for the title, 231-214.

Ann Louise Haugen, sister of 2001 Bowling World Cup champion Kim Asbjörn, led the women's qualifying with a 1691 8-game total and an average of 211.37. 2007 European Champions Cup winner Ingunn Øien (left) was a distant second with 1609. Both players earned one bye for the finals.

Jeanett Haavelmoen Johansen was the sole player in Final Round 1, who managed a 600-plus series with 617. Also advancing to the next stage were Veronika Steiner (595), Heidi Thorstensen (594), Lene Lillelien (559), Cathrine Bjercke (556) and Cathrine Arnesen (553).

Thorstensen (right), who was third in qualifying with 1599, closed out her 3-game series in Final Round 2 with a huge 278 game to earn No. 1 seed for the semi-finals. Bjercke was second with 639 while Haugen (632) and Øien (630) grabbed the two other spots.

The semi-final match between No. 1 Thorstensen and No. 4 Øien was the most exciting match of the finals. Thorstensen got up in the 10th frame needing to convert the 1-2-8 constellation and another 7-count to beat Øien's 200 game. And that was exactly what she did to advance, 201-200. Haugen ousted Bjercke, 214-171, and then flew past Thorstensen, 221-137, to secure the women's title.

European Masters champion and World Youth Masters champion Mads Sandbækken (left) is leading the men's World Cup Qualifier after three events with 63 points with Svein Roger Olsen in second mere one point behind. Lund is third with 57 points, with Pedersen in fourth at 50 points.

With her victory in Drammen, Haugen, tied third-place finisher in the 2005 BWC in Ljubljana, Slovenia, overtook the lead from Øien with 78 points. Øien slipped to second place with 76 points. Thorstensen is third at 73 points.

Aleksander Kvinnesland (right) won the Junior division (8 games, no finale) with 1745 pinfall total and an average of 218.12. Henrik Aspdahl Oseth was 51 pins behind to finish in second place with 1694. Third place belonged to Simen S. Jensen with 1651. Rounding out the top six were Christian Evensen (1640), Andre Langrin Hansen (1610) and Alexander Halvorsen (1602). Miriam Lindgaard Stivang was the best female bowler in seventh place with 1584 including 80 pins handicap.

Courtesy of Sven Tore Iversen.