Petteri Salonen shoots 1480 to lead the field into final qualifying day in Aalborg

    05/29/10

    2010 European Bowling Tour #9

    Five players crack the top 10 on Friday; cut for 38th place is currently 1322

    2009EBT04PetteriSalonen.jpg200910PBAMartinLarsen.jpgLong-time Finnish national team member Petteri Salonen (pictured left) averaged 246.67 in Squad 9 Friday evening at Lovvang Bowling Center in Aalborg, Denmark en route to overtake the lead in the qualifying of the Bowltech Aalborg International 2010.

    Salonen, who has won four gold medals at the 2005 Men's European Championships in Moscow, Russia (Doubles, Trios, Team and All Events), fired games of 238, 246, 224, 248, 256 and 268 for 1480 six-game total to lead the field of 167 players - 121 men and 46 women - from 10 countries into the final qualifying day on Saturday.

    Salonen beat out Martin Larsen (right), Sweden, for the top spot by 33 pins. Larsen, a 3-time world champion, led Squad 7 on Friday morning with 1447, an average of 241, 17, including high games of 288 and 267.

    2009VOKamillaKjeldsen4.jpg200910PBAMikaKoivuniemi.jpgKamilla Kjeldsen (left), Denmark, who led the field since the first squad on Monday with 1445 including 48 pins handicap and a scratch average of 232.83, slipped to third place. Kjeldsen, who targets her third consecutive EBT Masters title next week at the same venue, is one of eight women above the cut line.

    8-time PBA champion and current EBT men's ranking leader, Mika Koivuniemi (right), Finland, led Squad 8 to maintain the fourth place in the overall qualifying standings. The "Big Finn" used back-to-back 266 games to improve his six-game total from 1415 to 1428 (238.00).

    2010EBT04ThomasLarsen2.jpg2009EBT05MartinPaulsson.jpgPaul Hutchinson and Thomas Larsen, both Denmark, fell to fifth and sixth place with 1416 and 1415, respectively. Larsen (left) is the sole player with a perfect game in the tournament.

    Swede Martin Paulsson (right), was the fourth player on Friday, who cracked the 1400-bar. Paulsson closed out his six-game block in Squad 8 with a huge 278 game to finish the day in 7th place with 1401. His compatriot Kim Bolleby was mere 9 pins behind to sit in 9th place with 1392.

    Sandwiched between the two Swedes was former EBT ranking and World Rankings Masters champion Britt Brøndsted, Denmark, who was the fifth player on Friday who cracked the top 10 with 1395 including 48 pins handicap (224.50 scratch average) in Squad 9.

    2010EBT05MaiGingeJensen.jpgRounding out the top is Juhani Tonteri, Finland, with 1391 (231.83). Mai Ginge Jensen (right), Denmark, led the 14 players in Squad 10 at 9 p.m. with 1375 including handicap, good enough for 19th place overall. Her sister, Anja Ginge Jensen, currently holds the 38th and final spot to advance with 1322. Qualifying ends on Saturday with Squads 11, 12, 13 and 14.

    BowltechAalborgOpenLogo_small.jpg The Bowltech Aalborg International 2010 will be held from May 18-24 at Lovvang Bowling Center in Aalborg, Denmark and offers total prize fund of 62.000 Euro with 10.000 Euro going to the winner. Women receive 8 pins handicap each game. a standard for women on the European Bowling Tour

    The tournament is the 9th stop of the 2010 European Bowling Tour and one of the Tour's "Gold" tournaments. Since the Ankara Open and the Austria Challenge have been cancelled, the 2010 EBT Tour consists of 19 events - 2 EBT Platinum tournament (formerly Premier), 6 EBT Gold tournaments (formerly Major), 7 EBT Silver tournaments (formerly Challenger) and 4 EBT Satellite tournaments (new category).

    2009BWCMartinLarsen3_small.jpg2009WWCKristaPollanen_small.jpg Martin Larsen (left) from Sweden is the defending champion. Larsen topped Tore Torgersen, Norway, 457 to 449 in the 2009 title match over two games total pinfall to claim his fifth EBT title and the 10.000 Euro top prize. Krista Pöllänen (right), Finland, finished in 6th place en route to win the women's ranking.

    Qualifying runs through Saturday, May 29th and concludes with the one-game Desperado Squad slated for 11.30 p.m. on Saturday night.

    A total of 48 players will qualify for the finals on Sunday, May 30th - the top 38 players from the overall qualifying standings plus the top three players each from a combined standing of Squads 1-3 and 4-6 which are not among the top 38, and the top 4 from the Desperado Squad.

    The top 12 qualifiers will earn two byes while players seeded 13-24 will bypass the first round of the finals.

    Rounds 1-4 will feature 4-game blocks starting from scratch which will trim the field to 36, 24, 12 and then four who will advance to the semifinals. The No. 1 player of Round 4 bowls the No. 4 and No. 2 meets No. 3 to determine the finalists who will bowl for the title. The semifinals and the championship match are two-.game matches with the total pinfall determining the winner.

    Immediately following the Bowltech Aalborg International 2010 is the 3rd EBT Masters, the season-ending event of the 2009 European Bowling Tour, which will be held May 31st and June 1st at Lovvang Bowling Center.

     


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    Qualifying Standings after Squad 10/14

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