With 15 out of 18 qualifying squads in the books, Ghislaine van der Tol (pictured left), Netherlands, and Nicki Ainge (right), England, lead the field of 182 players in the Hammer Bronzen Schietspoel Tournament 2009 at Dolfijn Bowling in Tilburg, Netherlands.

The Dutch national team member totaled 1418 pins over six games, while Ainge had 1382, both including 48 pins women's handicap.

Dennis Eklund (left), Sweden, had six games between 203 and 258 in Squad 14 en route to move into third place with the highest scratch total of 1371, a 228.50 average. 3-time European ranking champion Paul Moor (right), England, who led Squad 13, is fourth with 1362.

Fifth place belonged to Moor's compatriot Dominic Barrett, who was second to Eklund in Squad 14, with 1357. World Championships Masters runner-up Jesper Agerbo, Denmark, averaged 224.83 in Squad 15 Friday evening to leap into sixth place with 1349.

With three more qualifying squads to go on Saturday, the cutoff number is 1240 or an average of 206.67.

The Hammer Bronzen Schietspoel Tournament 2009 is the 2nd stop of the 2009 European Bowling Tour and one of the Tour's "Major" events. The tournament offers total prize fund of 62.800 Euro. The top 64 players cash with 12.000 going to the winner. Mikael Kanold, Sweden, is the defending champion.

Qualifying runs through Saturday evening, Feb. 21, with the final Squad 18 scheduled for 6 p.m. local time (GMT +1). The ultimate qualifying chance, the one-game Desperado Squad, will conclude the qualifying at 9.30 p.m.

The Hammer Bronzen Schietspoel Tournament 2009 is contested on dual lane condition. The left lane is dressed with the 46ft long pattern, the right lane with the 33ft short pattern.

A total of 64 players will advance to the finals on Sunday, Feb. 22, the top 54 qualifying leaders, the top 6 from a combined standing of Squads 1-4, who are not among the top 54, and the top 4 from the Desperado Squad. The top 8 qualifiers earn three byes, qualifiers 9-16 receive two byes and qualifiers 17-24 get one bye.

The players will be seeded into groups of four players each and will determine the champion in seven rounds over two games total pinfall. Basically the top two players plus some 'lucky losers' (rounds 1-4), advance to the next round and will be reseeded according to pinfall in the previous round.

The field will be cut from 64 to 48, 36, 24, 16, 8 and the then four, who will battle it out for the title.