Anton Stiel takes the early lead in Vienna Open Singles Qualifying

    09/29/10

    2010 European Bowling Tour #15

    Czech Republic's Kutina, Cifka set the pace in Doubles

    2010EBT15AntonStiel.jpg2010EBT15JuttaPilecky.jpgAnton Stiel (pictured left) from Austria led a field of 44 players, 41 men and 3 women, from seven countries in the first of 17 qualifying squads of the 8th Columbia 300 Vienna Open en route to earn an automatic berth into the finals on Sunday. Oct. 3.

    Stiel was even after five games based on a 200 average and closed out his six-game series with a 232 high game to win Squad 1 with 1232 pinfall total and an average of 205.33. If Stiel's score won't be good enough to finish among the top 52 players in the overall qualifying standings, he is qualified for the finals by virtue of being a leader of one of the first six squads.

    2010EBT15MiroslavCifkaKarelKutina.jpgIf Stiel will finish among the top 52, the next player will take advantage. Karel Kutina (on the right with partner Miroslav Cifka, left), Czech Republic, was tied with Jutta Pilecky (above right), Austria, at 1228 and was seeded second due to the higher last game, 230-181. Pilecky, who received 8 pins handicap each game, led the field after five games but had to settle for third place.

    Fourth place belonged to Daniel Hahn, Austria, with 1217 including a 256 game, the highest of the entire squad, with Miroslav Cifka, Czech Republic, in fifth at 1207.

    2010EBT15ThomasGrossThomasTybl.jpg2010EBT15TinaStickneyLucasWiseman.jpg Kutina and Cifka took the early lead in the Doubles competition with 2435. Daniel Hahn and his father Franz were second with 2423, while Stiel and his partner Marek Talpa, Czech Republic, landed in third place with sup-par 2372.

    Qualifying continues Tuesday with Squads 2 at 4pm and Squad 3 at 8pm CET. Among the teams in Squad 2 are former European champions, Thomas Gross and Thomas Tybl (left photo, l-r), Austria, as well as Tina Stickney and Lucas Wiseman (right photo, l-r), United States.

    2010VOLogo.jpg The 8th Columbia 300 Vienna Open is the 15th stop of the 2010 European Bowling Tour and one of the Tour's "Gold" events. The tournament will be held from Tuesday Sept. 28 through Sunday Oct. 3, 2010 at 32-lane Plus Bowling in Vienna, Austria.

    Since the Ankara Open and the Austria Challenge have been cancelled and the English Open has lost its EBT status, the 2010 EBT Tour consists of 18 events - 2 EBT Platinum tournament (formerly Premier), 6 EBT Gold tournaments (formerly Major), 6 EBT Silver tournaments (formerly Challenger) and 4 EBT Satellite tournaments (new category).

    Players will compete for an increased total prize money of 70.630 Euro - 60.400 € in Singles and 10.230 € in Doubles. The singles champion will receive the 7.000 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.

    2009VOClaraGuerreroStuartWilliams.jpg 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. Pictured right: Clara Juliana Guerrero, Colombia, and Stuart Williams, England, won the Doubles competition in 2009.

    Qualifying runs from Tuesday through Saturday and ends with the ultimate one-game Desperado Squad on Saturday night Oct. 2 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. 3:

     

    • the top 52 players from the overall qualifying standings
    • the first player each from Squad 1-6, who is not among the top 52 (total 6 players)
    • and the top 6 from the Desperado Squad.


    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.

    2009VOThomasGross-7_small.jpg2009VOBrittBrondsted_small.jpg 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, 150 ranking points and the 7.000 Euro top prize.

    In the 2009 title match, hometown favorite Thomas Gross (pictured left) defeated tournament leader Stuart Williams, England, in a high scoring encounter, 246-231, en route to become the first Austrian winner in the Columbia 300 Vienna Open. Britt Brøndsted (right), Denmark, was the best female bowler in 10th place to win the women's ranking. Review the live streaming of the stepladder finals here.

    BowlingdigitalBanner.gif BowlingdigitalFlavioCuvaBeatGrauwiler_small.jpg Since the inaugural event in the year 2003, Bowlingdigital covers the event live from Plus Bowling in Vienna with stories and results after each round commencing Monday Sept. 27 all the way through to the finals on Sunday Oct. 3.

    Once again, our Swiss friends Flavio Cuva (left) and Beat Grauwiler (right) will be on hand to support the Live Coverage with our much-anticipated high definition videos and photos.

    USBCCommentatorLucasWiseman_small.jpg Defending fifth-place Desperado Squad advancer from last year, Lucas Wiseman (pictured left) of USBC Communications, will also return and fill in as play-by-play announcer.

    Bowlingdigital will be providing free Live Streaming of the four-player stepladder finals on Sunday, Oct. 3rd starting at 5pm CET. We are also planning to provide live streaming broadcasts of portions of the qualifying and the final rounds prior to the stepladder.

    Click here to review Bowlingdigital's Live Coverage from the 2009 Columbia 300 Vienna Open
    or click here to go straight to the 2009 VO Video Section.

     


    Tournament Format
    Schedule
    Prize Fund

     


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    Singles Qualifying - Standings after Squad 1 of 17

     


    Doubles - Standings after Squad 1 of 17

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