Ville Holmström closed out his six-game qualifying series Friday night at Tali Bowling in Helsinki with games of 263 and 288 to overtake the lead in the qualifying of the Brunswick Ballmaster Open.

Holmström tied previous leader Timo Alho at 1441 or an average of 240.17, but moved to the top due the higher last game. Jouni Helminen, all from Finland, is third with 1437.

Three-time European ranking champion Paul Moor (left) and former World and European champion Tomas Leandersson (right), Sweden, led the 7th and 8th qualifying squad on Friday. Leandersson is fourth with 1435 and Moor sits in fifth place with 1402.

Krista Pöllänen, Finland, ist he top-ranked woman in the 361-player field in 27th place with 1336 including 8 pins handicap each game, a standard for women on the European Bowling Tour.

With another four qualifying squads to go, Mari Santonen, Finland is the woman on the bubble in 44th and final qualifying position with 1310. According to the tournament officials the estimated cutoff number was expected to be around 1330.

The Brunswick Ballmaster Open is the 1st of 18 stops of the 2008 European Bowling Tour and one of the Tour's 'Major' events. The tournament offers total prize money of 62.400 Euro or approximately 92,000 U.S. Dollar. The winner will receive the 10.000 Euro top prize.

Qualifying continues on Saturday, Jan. 11, with squads 10, 11 and 12 and the final Squad 13 scheduled for 8 p.m. local time. (GMT +1). Qualifying will conclude with the one-game Desperado Squad at 11.30 p.m.

The top 44 from the qualifying plus the top 4 from the Desperado Squad will advance to the finals on Sunday, Jan. 13. The top 8 qualifiers will bypass the first two rounds of the finals.

Players seeded 9-48 will bowl five games starting from scratch to cut to the top 20, who will bowl another five games with the pinfall from round 1 being carried forward. The top eight (seeded 9-16) will meet the top 8 qualifiers in the best-of-five games Round of 16. The highest seeded player bowls the lowest seeded player and so on.

Once the field is cut to the top 4, players bowl single-game matches. The winners of the semi-final matches will bowl for the title and the 10.000 Euro top prize.

The extra prize for perfect 300 game at the Brunswick Ballmaster Open is a Suzuki motorcycle with 1350cc and 198 horsepower (pictured). If more than one bowler rolls a 300 game, the winner of the Suzuki, worth 17.490 Euro, will be determined during the TV finals in a one-ball roll-off.

Long-time Finnish international Petri Mannonen (pictured left) led the fifth of 13 qualifying squads in the Brunswick Ballmaster Open Thursday afternoon at Tali Bowling in Helsinki, Finland, en route to move into fifth place in the overall qualifying standings.

The 2005 European Masters champion rolled games of 214, 236, 241, 216, 215 and 255 for a 1377 six-game total and an average of 229.50. Timo Alho held on to the lead with 1441 pinfall total (240.17).

2007 European ranking champion Osku Palermaa (right) was second in Squad 5 with 1299 and improved his score to 1341 to lead Squad 6 on Thursday evening. The two-hander leaped into 10th place in qualifying averaging 223.50.

World Ranking Masters champion Stuart Williams (left) was mere four pins behind Palermaa to become the best non-Finnish player in the field thus far with 1337 in 12th position.

American Robert Spigner was another four pins behind Williams to sit in 15th place with 1333 (222.17).

Spigner is tied with Jenni Mäkelä (right), Finland, who the top-ranked woman in the 273-player field since the very first squad with 1333 including 8 pins handicap each game, a standard for women on the European Bowling Tour.

With another seven qualifying squads to go, Matias Kallio, Finland mans the 44th and final qualifying post with 1266 or an average of 211.00. According to the tournament officials the estimated cutoff number will be around 1330.

The Brunswick Ballmaster Open is the 1st of 18 stops of the 2008 European Bowling Tour and one of the Tour's 'Major' events. The tournament offers total prize money of 62.400 Euro or approximately 92,000 U.S. Dollar. The winner will receive the 10.000 Euro top prize.

Qualifying continues on Friday, Jan. 11, with squads 7-9 and runs through Saturday, Jan. 12 with the final Squad 13 scheduled for 8 p.m. local time. (GMT +1). Qualifying will conclude with the one-game Desperado Squad at 11.30 p.m.

The top 44 from the qualifying plus the top 4 from the Desperado Squad will advance to the finals on Sunday, Jan. 13. The top 8 qualifiers will bypass the first two rounds of the finals.

Players seeded 9-48 will bowl five games starting from scratch to cut to the top 20, who will bowl another five games with the pinfall from round 1 being carried forward. The top eight (seeded 9-16) will meet the top 8 qualifiers in the best-of-five games Round of 16. The highest seeded player bowls the lowest seeded player and so on.

Once the field is cut to the top 4, players bowl single-game matches. The winners of the semi-final matches will bowl for the title and the 10.000 Euro top prize.

The extra prize for perfect 300 game at the Brunswick Ballmaster Open is a Suzuki motorcycle with 1350cc and 198 horsepower (pictured). If more than one bowler rolls a 300 game, the winner of the Suzuki, worth 17.490 Euro, will be determined during the TV finals in a one-ball roll-off.