Six players, three from Denmark, two from England and defending champion Peter Ljung (right) from Sweden, moved into the top 16 players during the 16th qualifying squad at the Brunswick Euro Challenge in France.

Joanne Allsebrook (pictured left), England, led the squad with games of 278, 259, 239, 219, 208 and 233 and 1436 pinfall total, an average of 239.33. The English national team member added 48 pins handicap, a standard for women on the European Bowling Tour, to leap into second place in the overall qualifying standings with 1484.

Photos: Beat Grauwiler.

PBA Hall of Famer Brian Voss (left) remained atop the leaderboard of the 249-player field with 1537 six-game total and an average of 256.17.

Jimmy Mortensen, Denmark, posted the second highest series Friday afternoon at Le Plaza Bowling in Saint Maximin to help grab the 7th place with 1395. Mere one spot or 17 pins behind was 2007 World Ranking Masters champ Stuart Williams (right), England, with 1378.

Mai Ginge Jensen (left), Denmark, chalked up 1366 featuring a 269 game, good enough for 12th place overall. Rounding out the top 16 who will bypass the first round of the finals on Sunday, are Ljung and Rikke Holm Rasmussen, Denmark.

The defending champion posted a 1358 score with a low game of 213 in the first and a high game of 246 in the last game. Rasmussen was mere two pins behind with 1356 including a high game of 279.

The top 16 consist of eight men and eight women.

Britt Brøndsted, Denmark, rolled the third 300 game in the Brunswick Euro Challenge 2009 and the first by a woman in the second game of the squad on lanes 21/22. It was just the second career 300 game for the 2003 World Ranking Masters queen, who led the women's European Bowling Tour rankings from 2004-2006, and a big relief (pictured) after "many 299s in the past" (Click here to view a video of the 10th frame). Brøndsted checked in with 1321 in 35th place.

Michael Loos (pictured left with Austrian head coach Helmut "HC" Amstätter), Austria, currently holds the 52md and final spot to advance 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).

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.