Alain Nicolas, France posted a 1377 six-game total in Squad 5 en route to lead the qualifying in the Brunswick Euro Challenge 2009 after the first weekend. Nicolas (pictured left) had games of 259, 191, 233, 244, 204 and 246, an average of 229.50, to overtake previous leader Marie Gauton by 17 pins.

Gauton (pictured right) slipped to second place with 1360 pinfall total including 48 pins handicap, a standard for women on the European Bowling Tour. Another five players from Squad 5 cracked the top 10 Sunday evening at Le Plaza Bowling in Saint Maximin, France.

Trailing Nicholas by 30 pins to move into third place was Christian Chemery, France, with 1347. Belgian veteran Christian Vandamme was mere three pins behind to overtake fourth place with 1344.

Early leader Yoan Alix (left), France fell to fifth place with 1322. Jean-Marc Lebon, Belgium, leaped into sixth place with 1312. The top six players from the first weekend, who will not finish among the top 52 in the overall qualifying standings, are automatically qualified for the finals. Squad 4 leader Jimmy Ravez is seventh with 1296, followed by Michael Haest, both Belgium, in eighth with 1294.

Four-time European ranking leader Gery Verbruggen, who fired the first 300 game of the tournament on Saturday improved his score in Squad 5 to 1293, good for 9th place overall. Rounding out the top 10 is Hernan Ramirez, Venezuela, with 1275 or an average of 212.50.

In 2008, the first time that the BEC was staged at Le Plaza Bowling Saint Maximin, Swede Martin Larsen won the qualifying with 1448 (241.33) and the cutoff number for 52nd place was 1263 (210.50). Peter Ljung (pictured right) from Sweden is the defending champion.

The Brunswick Euro Challenge is the fourth stop of the 2009 European Bowling Tour and one of the Tour's "majors". The total prize fund is 90,000 Euro (currently about US$114,000), and includes special prizes that will be given in categories such as youth encouragement, B Bowlers, and Women. In addition Brunswick offers up to $1,000 bonus for shooting a 300 game with the new Brunswick "Wilde Ride" bowling ball in the 2009 BEC.

The Brunswick Euro Challenge 2009 sponsored by Brunswick Bowling is organized by Brunswick distributor Valcke Bowling.

Qualifying will run through Saturday, March 14, with the final qualifying squad 23 scheduled for 8pm and ends with the ultimate Desperado Squad at 11pm.

A total of 64 players will qualify for the finals on Sunday, March 15. The top 16 players will receive one bye and will seeded 1-16 in Round 2.

The following 48 players will qualify for Round 1:

• Players positioned 17th-52nd in qualifying
• the top 6 from a separate standing for the squads conducted March 6-8, who are not among the top 52
• the top 6 from the Desperado Squad.

Those 48 will bowl six games starting from scratch to cut to the top 16, who will meet the top 16 qualifiers in the first match play round. Match play is best-of-three games single-elimination. The No. 1 seed will take on No. 32, No. 2 bowls No. 31, etc. The field will be cut to 16, 8 and then four, who will determine the champion in a stepladder final. The winner will receive the 16.000 Euro top prize.


Bowlingdigital will cover the event live from Le Plaza Bowling in Saint Maximin with results and updates after each round commencing March 12 all the way through to the finals on Sunday, March 15.