Seven Swedes, two Finns and one Norwegian finished the qualifying in the 6th Istanbul Bowling Open atop the 158-player field. World Champion Robert Andersson (pictured left), Sweden, had games of 257, 239, 255, 229, 258 and 234 on Friday en route to win the qualifying with 1472 six-game total and an average of 245.33. Andersson received a 1.200 Euro bonus.

Andersson's compatriots Peter Norderson and Martin Larsen, who won the Kuwait Open last week, finished in second and third place with 1441 and 1440, respectively.

2008 World Ranking Masters champion Jari Ratia, Finland, landed in fourth place with 1420 and was followed by Tore Torgersen (right), Norway in fifth with 1418. Sixth place belonged to Martin Paulsson, Sweden, with 1415.

Two-time defending EBT ranking champion Osku Palermaa sits in 7th place with 1407, with Peter Ljung 8th with 1405.

Swedish national team member Tobias Karlsson (left) was the sole player on Saturday, the final qualifying day, who cracked the top 10. The Swede had six games between 210 and 258 to lead Squad 18 with 1399 (233.17), good for 9th place overall.

Karlsson pushed back Swedish head coach Tomas Leandersson (right) to 10th place with 1392. Leandersson, who laced up his bowling shoes again last year to win the silver medal in Doubles at the Men's World Championship, rolled two 300 games on Friday in Squads 13 and 15.

Jesper Agerbo, Denmark, silver medalist in Masters at the 2008 MWC, led Squad 17 with 1317 to make the cut in 34th place. Long-time Finnish international Jouni Helminen (left) was the top competitor in Squad 19 with 1356, good for 17th place overall. Federico Rossi, Italy, was the sole player of the 20th and final qualifying squad who moved into the top 42 with 1315 (35th).

Sascha Obst, Germany, hit the cutoff number for 42nd place with 1287 or an average of 214.50. Veronica Lantto (right), Sweden, was the best of seven women, who finished among the top 42 in 13th place with 1373 including 48 pins handicap, a standard for women on the European Bowling Tour.

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.

A total of 48 players - the top 42 players from the qualifying plus the top 6 from the Desperado Squad - advanced 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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