The first of the final four squads in the Brunswick Euro Challenge saw a strong performance by some of the top European women bowlers.

Two-time European ranking champion Kamilla Kjeldsen (pictured left), Denmark, led the 56 players from Squad 20 on Saturday morning with 1445 including 48 pins handicap, a standard for women on the European Bowling Tour, en route to jump into fourth place in the overall qualifying standings.

Kjeldsen came out of the gates quickly at 8am at Le Plaza Bowling in Saint Maximin, France, with a 290 game followed by 214, 238, 201, 196 and 258, an average of 232.83 over six games.

Photos: Beat Grauwiler.

2008 Vienna Open champion Patricia Luoto (above, right), Germany, the No. 5 in the 2008 EBT point rankings, was just 11 pins behind with 1434 including a 279 opening game, good for fifth place overall.

Reigning European ranking queen Nina Flack (left), Sweden, improved her score to 1375 to move into 7th place.

PBA Hall of Famer Brian Voss (right) held on to the lead as the field reached the 300 mark with 1537 six-game total and an average of 256.17. Joanne Allsebrook, England, is the top-ranked of six women among the top 10 in second place with 1484. Anja Ginge Jensen, Denmark, and Zara Glover, England, are in 6th and 8th place with 1430 and 1420, respectively.

Finn Petteri Salonen (below, left) was the best male bowler in Squad 20. The multiple European champion had six games between 214 and 262 overtake 11th place with 1391. Sanna Helldén, Sweden, holds the 16th and last place to earn bye for tomorrow's finals with 1367 including handicap.

4-time PBA champion Sean Rash (right), who was in 49th place after Squad 19 with 1316, was 150 over after five games but closed out his set with a disappointing 170 game and a 1320 pinfall total. With an average of 220.00, the 2008 USBC Masters champ is now the "man on the bubble" in 52nd place.

Fellow PBAer, Bill O'Neill, currently the No. 2 in the PBA point rankings finished his block with 150 over to leap into 32nd place with 1350.

In 2008, the first time that the BEC was staged at Le Plaza Bowling Saint Maximin, Martin Larsen, Sweden, 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 ends Saturday, March 14, with three more squads (21-23). The final qualifying Squad 23 is scheduled for 8pm. Qualifying concludes with the ultimate one-game 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.