Tanya Petty (pictured left) from Germany played in her own class in the 22nd and penultimate qualifying squad of Brunswick Euro Challenge Saturday afternoon at Le Plaza Bowling in Saint Maximin, France.

The World Champion and 3-time European Champions Cup winner, who lives in Switzerland, had games of 244, 201, 222, 246, 236 and 223 for 1372 pinfall total, an average of 228.67. She added 48 pins handicap, a standard for women on the European Bowling Tour, to shoot into 9th place in the overall qualifying standings with 1420.

Photos: Beat Grauwiler.

23-time PBA champion Brian Voss (right), United States, leads the field of 313 players since Squad 13 with 1537 six-game total and an average of 256.17. Joanne Allsebrook, England, is the top-ranked women in second place with 1484.

PBA champion Mike Fagan, United States, is third with 1473, a score he posted early in the tournament in Squad 8.

Places 4 through 9 belong to women bowlers: 4. Kamilla Kjeldsen, Denmark, 1445; 5. Patricia Luoto (left), Germany, 1434; 6. Anja Ginge Jensen, Denmark, 1430; 7. Nina Flack, Sweden, 1423; 8. Zara Glover, England, 1420. Petty was seeded 9th due to Glover's higher last game, 244 to 223.

Rounding out the top 10 is Thomas Larsen, Denmark, with 1416. The women have seven players among the top 10 and 8 among the top 16. Alain Nicolas, France, holds the 16th and final spot to earn one bye for Sunday's finals with 1377 or an average of 229.50.

Gery Verbruggen (right), Belgium, who rolled the first of four 300 games in this tournament, was a distant second in Squad 22 with 1333 (22.17). The 4-time EBT ranking winner and former World and European champion is one of three players with 1333.

PBA champion Brad Angelo is 48th thanks to a 246 final game. Verbruggen is 49th (228) and 2005 World Ranking Masters champion Kimmo Lehtonen, Finland, is 50th (203).

French couple Francois and Isabelle Sacco sit in 51st and 52nd place with 1331 and 1328, respectively.

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). Peter Ljung, 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.

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.