Scandinavians sit atop the qualifying leaderboard in 6th Istanbul Bowling Open

    04/03/09

    2009 European Bowling Tour #5

    Timeout Bowling Center in Istanbul, Turkey (March 30 - April 5, 2009)

    2009EBT05PeterNorderson2.jpgWith 12 of 20 qualifying squads in the books, Swede Peter Norderson (pictured left) held on to the lead in the qualifying of the 6th Istanbul Bowling Open currently underway at Timeout Bowling Center in Istanbul, Turkey.

    Norderson, who posted a 1441 six-game total in Squad 6, was challenged by two other Scandinavians, who arrived from the Kuwait Open.

    2009EBT05ToreTorgersen.jpgTore Torgersen (right) from Norway had the highest game of this year's tournament thus far when he rolled a 299 in game 5 in Squad 11 en route to leap into second place in the overall qualifying standings with 1418 and an average of 236.33.

    2009EBT05OskuPalermaa.jpgTwo-hander Osku Palermaa (left), Finland, fresh off a runner-up finish in Kuwait, led Squad 10 with 1407 including a 279 game, good for third place overall.

    2-time defending champion and current EBT ranking leader Palermaa is the red hot favorite for the EBT exemption for the PBA World Series given to the men's ranking leader after the first seven tour stops in 2007.

    2009EBT05TinaHulsch.jpg"Of course I would accept the exemption," Palermaa stated. "It would be stupid to say no. If I miss the exemption, I will most definitely apply for an international exemption and if I would get that one I probably will be there [in Detroit] anyway and bowl the PBA Tour Qualifying Rounds."

    German Bowler of the Year Tina Hulsch (right) averaged 220.00 scratch to lead Squad 12 with 1368 including 48 pins handicap, a standard for women on the European Bowling Tour. Hulsch, who won the award for the third consecutive year is the top-ranked female bowler in 4th place.

    2009EBT04NinaFlack.jpgThree more players, who bowled in Kuwait, cracked the top 10 on Thursday. Defending women's ranking champion Nina Flack (left) Sweden, who won the women's division stepladder finale in Kuwait, sits in 7th place with 1347.

    Rounding out the top 10 are Paul Stott Jr., Ireland, and Mads Sandbækken, Norway, with 1342 and 1335, respectively.

    The 6th Istanbul Bowling Open is the fifth stop of the 2009 European Bowling Tour and one of the Tour's Majors. The total prize fund is 68,000 Euro with 10.000 going to the winner. Lasse Lintilä, Finland, is the defending champion.

    Qualifying will run through Saturday, April 4, with the final qualifying squad 20 scheduled for 8pm. Qualifying will conclude with the ultimate one-game Desperado Squad.

      A total of 48 players - the top 42 players from the qualifying plus the top 6 from the Desperado Squad - will advance to the finals on Sunday, April 5.

    The top 8 will earn three byes, players seeded 9-18 will receive two byes and players seeded 19-28 will bypass the first round of the finals.

    The first five rounds consist of four games starting from scratch. The field will be trimmed to 38, 28, 18, 8 and then four who will advance to the semifinals (Round 6). Those four determine the finalists in one-game matches (No. 1 vs. No. 4 and No. 2 vs. No. 3). The winners will bowl for the title and the 10.000 € top prize.

     


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