International and PBA stars enter 5th Storm San Marino Open

    07/10/09

    2009 European Bowling Tour #8

    Oil pattern passes USBC Sport Bowling parameters

    2009RSMOpenBanner_small.jpgMany of Europe's top bowlers and some stars from America - amateurs and professionals - entered the 5th Storm San Marino Open Thursday at Rose’n Bowl in Serravalle, San Marino.

    2009EBT18LucaOsella_small.jpgFive players averaged better than 233 for six games to crack the 1400-bar and the top 10 in the overall qualifying standings. However, Luca Osella (pictured right) from Italy, who powered his way into the lead on Wednesday, remained unchallenged and held on to the lead with 1542 or an average of 257.00.

    2009EBT08SergeFrauvelle.jpgSerge Frouvelle (left), France, led the first squad on Thursday (#14) with 1385 pinfall total, an average of 230.33, and also cracked the top 10 at this moment but slipped to 13th place until the end of the day.

    2009EBT08MikaKouvuniemi.jpgPBA super star Mika Koivuniemi (right) set the pace in Squad 15 with 1400 (233.13). The "Big Finn" had five games between 225 and 289 and a low game of 156 in the third game to shoot into fifth place in the overall qualifying standings.

    Another 8 players including former PBA exempt player Tore Torgersen, Norway, (1376), 4-time European ranking champion Gery Verbruggen, Belgium (1320) and reigning European ranking queen Nina Flack, Sweden (1303 incl. handicap) cracked the 1300-bar.

    ColumnistTedThompson_small.jpg"The lane surface at Rose n’ Bowl has recently been re-leveled", said Kegel's Ted Thompson (left). "It seems to help players to not have to adjust too much from pair to pair."

    Click here to view the USBC Sport Compliancy form (pdf file) Ted has filled out for the San Marino Open. "As you will see, this pattern passes USBC Sport Bowling parameters, which was one of our goals in setting up the oil pattern", Ted added.

    "The oil pattern is not changing much so once the players get locked in, few adjustments need to be made. These factors will always raise the scoring pace since there are no ‘mystery pairs.’"

    Four players cracked the 1400 and another 10 bowled better than 1300 in the final squad 16 on Thursday evening.

    2009EBT08RobertAnderson.jpg2009EBT18MarcoBaade_small.jpgRobert Andersson (left), Doubles and Team world champion from Sweden, had high games of 289, 269, 265 and 243 and low games of 192 and 178, to lead the squad with 1436 pinfall total and an average of 239.33. Andersson leaped into fourth place trailing frontrunners Osella (1542), Marco Baade (right), Germany (1472) and Raymond Jansson, Sweden (1457).

    Canadian standout Dan MacLelland was mere three pins behind Andersson with 1433 including 258, 260, and 256 in games 3 to 5 to jump into fifth place. European Masters champion Dominic Barrett, England, was another two pins behind MacLelland to overtake sixth place with 1431.

    2009EBT08JoshBlanchard_small.jpg2006 American Zone Youth Championships gold medalist Josh Josh Blanchard (right), United States, felled 1413 pins to move into 8th place, just two pins behind 7th placed Amedeo Spada, Italy and 13 ahead of Koivuniemi, who slipped to 9th.

    Rounding out the top 10 was Markus Jansson, Sweden, with 1393.

    2009EBT04VeronicaLantto2_small.jpgVeronica Lantto (left), who is on the Swedish national team fort he Women's Worlds in Las Vegas later this month, posted a 1347 total including 48 pins handicap, a standard for women on the European Bowling Tour, to become the top-ranked women in the tournament in 24th place.

    2009EBT08DennisEklund.jpgHer compatriot Dennis Eklund (right) set a highlight in the penultimate game of the day when he rolled the tournament's first 300 game en route to a 1326 series, currently good for 32nd place.

    2009EBT04MikeFagan_small.jpgWith two more qualifying days with a total of seven squads to go, Amanda Fagan, wife of PBA champion Mike Fagan, holds the 38th and last spot to advance with 1320 pinfall total. Mike (left), who won the Brunswick Euro Challenge earlier this year, is 14th with 1381.

    The 5th Storm San Marino Open is the 8th stop of the 2009 European Bowling Tour and one of the Tour's "Majors". The tournament will be held at Rose’n Bowl in Serravalle, San Marino from July 4-12, 2009.

    The total prize fund is 55.000 Euro with 10.000 Euro going to the winner. Women receive 8 pins handicap each game. As an EBT Major, there are 100 ranking points at stake for the winner of the men's and women's rankings, respectively.

    Qualifying continues until Saturday, July 11th. A total of 48 players will advance to the finals on Sunday: The top 38 players from the qualifying plus the top 3 from the squads conducted on July 4-5, the top 4 from the squads conducted on July 6-8 and the top 3 from the Desperado Squad. The top 6 qualifiers will earn two byes, while qualifiers 6-12 will get one.

    The other 36 will bowl four games from scratch to the top 18, who will meet qualifiers 6-12 in round two. They bowl another 4-game set from scratch to cut to the top 10, who will join the top six qualifiers in single-elimination match play over two games total pinfall.

    The highest seeded player bowls the lowest seeded, the second-highest seeded players bowls the second-lowest and so on. The field will be cut to 8, 4 then 2, who will bowl for the EBT "major" title and the 10.000 Euro top prize.

     


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    Qualifying Standings after Thursday, July 9, 2009

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