Plus Bowling in Vienna, Austria (Sep. 29 - Oct. 4, 2009)

Leo Grundschober (pictured left), Austria, became the first player who cracked the 1300-bar in the 7th Columbia 300 Vienna Open to shoot into the lead after the sixth qualifying squad Wednesday night at Plus Bowling in Vienna, Austria.

The Austrian national team member had games of 256, 245, 203, 191, 179 and 236 to lead the field of 158 players with 1310 pinfall total and an average of 218.33 over six games. As one of the squad leader from the first six qualifying squads, Grundschober is automatically qualified for the finals.

Previous leader Anton Stiel (right), Austria, slipped to second place with 1288 and is followed by Tim Friedrichs, Germany, and Franz Hahn, Austria, both with 1286.

Mirek Cifra, Czech Republic, is in fifth place with 1269 and Rene Landl, Austria, is sixth with 1267. Landl is the first player, who did not lead a squad.

Michael Rauscher (left) and Michael Loos (right), both Austria, battled it out for the second place in Squad 6. Rauscher defeated Loos by the closest possible margin, 1250 to 1249. In case Grundschober will finish among the top 52 qualifiers, Rauscher will take advantage and advance to the finals as the squad leader.

Mirek Cifra and Karel Kutina, Czech Republic, refused to fall in the doubles competition and continued to lead with 2467 pinfall total and an average of 205.58. Grundschober and team mate Roman Fürbacher (below right, 1151) moved into second place with 2461 (205.08). Tim Friedrichs and Jens Grieger, Germany, fell to third with 2446 (203,83).

Qualifying continues on Thursday with Squads 7, 8 and 9 at noon, 4pm and 8pm.

The 7th Columbia 300 Vienna Open is the 11th stop of the 2009 European Bowling Tour and one of the Tour's "Majors". The tournament will be held from Tuesday Sept. 29 through Sunday Oct. 4, 2009 at the renovated 32-lane Plus Bowling in Vienna, Austria.

More than 340 players from 27 countries will compete for an increased total prize money of 68.130 Euro - 57.900 € in Singles and 10.230 € in Doubles. The singles champion will receive the 6.000 Euro top prize while the doubles winners will split 1.600.

Once again the qualifying for the Vienna Open finals is contested as a doubles tournament. Each duo rolls at least one six-game block. Unlimited re-entries with different partners are possible but each player can only cash once with the same partner.

The team with the highest total pinfall including handicap will be declared the winner (no finals will be played). The top 20 doubles will cash. Bigi Manico, Switzerland and Tanya Cuva (nee Petty) are the defending champion.

Qualifying runs from Tuesday through Saturday and ends with the ultimate one-game Desperado Squad on Saturday night Oct. 3 slated for 11.30 pm local time (GMT +1). Women receive 8 pins handicap each game, a standard on the European Bowling Tour

A total of 64 players will qualify for the Vienna Open finals on Sunday, Oct. 4:

 

 

The top 8 qualifying leaders will bypass the first round of the finals.

The other 52 players will bowl 6 games starting from scratch to cut to the top 22, who will join the top qualifiers in Round Two.

Those 30 players will bowl another 6 games starting from scratch after which the field will be trimmed to the top 18, who will carry their pinfall forward into Round Three. After another 6-game block the top 4 with the highest 12-game total will advance to the stepladder finals.

The No. 4 seed meets the No. 3 in the opening match and the winner takes on the No. 2 seed for the right to bowl the top seed for the title, 100 ranking points and the 6.000 Euro top prize.

 

 

Related Articles

Anton Stiel beats high score by two pins to take the lead in Vienna
Tim Friedrich overtakes qualifying lead in 7th Columbia 300 Vienna Open
Ivonne Gross doubles in the 10th to bowl her way into the Vienna Open finals
Mirek Cifra leads second qualifying squad in 7th Columbia 300 Vienna Open
Franz Hahn secures his spot in the finals of 7th Columbia 300 Vienna Open
9-pin No-Tap Tournament kicks off 7th Columbia 300 Vienna Open
PBA Hall of Famer Brian Voss targets his second EBT title in Vienna
Clara Guerrero, Lynda Barnes to compete in 7th Columbia 300 Vienna Open
Live Coverage from the 7th Columbia 300 Vienna Open

 

 

Vienna Open Singles - Qualifying Standings after Squad 6 of 17

 

 

Vienna Open Doubles - Standings after Squad 6 of 17

 

 

Vienna Open Singles - Squad 6 Results

 

 

Vienna Open Doubles - Squad 6 Results