Defending Vienna Open champion Thomas Gross in familiar position after Day One

    09/29/10

    2010 European Bowling Tour #15

    Leads Singles Qualifying and Doubles event with Robert Skach

    2010EBT15ThomasGross2.jpg2010EBT15KaterinaBestova.jpgAustria's No. 1 bowler Thomas Gross (pictured left) fired a 1385 six-game series in the third qualifying squad Tuesday at Plus Bowling in Vienna, Austria, to overtake the lead in Singles after the first day of qualifying in the 8th Columbia 300 Vienna Open.

    The defending Vienna Open champion came out of the gates quickly with 270 and added games of 241, 201, 266, 194 and 213, an average of 230.83, to beat Squad 2 leader, Katerina Bestova (right), Czech Republic, by 37 pins. Bestova slipped to second place with 1348 including 48 pins handicap and is the top ranked women in the field.

    2010EBT15OrAviram2.jpg2010EBT15TinaStickney2.jpgOr Aviram (left), Israel, a former European Champions Cup winner like Gross, became the third player who cracked the 1300-bar. Aviram posted a 1312 pinfall total to finish second in Squad 3 on Tuesday evening which secures Israel's representative in the Bowling World Cup next month an automatic berth into Sunday's finals (provided that Gross will finish qualifying among the top 52).

    Aviram's compatriot Ben Fishler made a late run for second place finishing with 276 but fell 22 pins short to sit in fourth place with 1290. Rounding out the top 5 was Tina Stickney (right), United States, with 1274.

    2010EBT15ThomasGrossRobertSkach2.jpgIn the Doubles competition, Gross teamed with compatriot Robert Skach (pictured left with Gross), who led the event with Bestova since Squad 2 with 2476. Skach, who felled 1128 pins with Bestova, managed 1123 with Gross for 2508 and found himself in first and third place in Doubles after Day One qualifying

    "I can't believe that I rolled two consecutive 1100-plus series and my team mates bowled the highest series of the tournament thus far", said Skach. Rumors say that Skach has got already offers to bowl some more qualifying squads.

    2010EBT15MiroslavCifkaKarelKutina.jpg2010EBT15AlexPittesserMichaelRauscher.jpgAviram and his team mate Gal Shemer (1166) moved into second place with 2478. Fishler and his team mate Aviv Alfital (1172) overtook fourth place with 2462, while Squad 1 leaders Miroslav Cifka and Karel Kutina (left, l-r), Czech Republic, fell to fifth with 2435.

    Austria's Alexander Pittesser and Michael Rauscher (right, l-r) were one pin behind in sixth place with 2434.

    Qualifying continues Wednesday with Squads 4-6 scheduled for Noon, 4pm and 8pm CET.

    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.

    2010EBT15OilPattern.jpgOnce 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.

    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.

    Tournament Format
    Schedule
    Prize Fund

    2009VOThomasGross-7_small.jpg2009VOBrittBrondsted_small.jpg 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.

    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.

    BowlingdigitalBanner.gif BowlingdigitalFlavioCuvaBeatGrauwiler_small.jpg Since the inaugural Vienna Open in the year 2003, Bowlingdigital covers the event live from Plus Bowling 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.


    Related Articles


    Katerina Bestova shoots into lead in Singles at 8th Columbia 300 Vienna Open
    Anton Stiel takes the early lead in Vienna Open Singles Qualifying
    9-pin no-tap tournament Tournament kicks off 8th Columbia 300 Vienna Open
    Live Coverage from the 8th Columbia 300 Vienna Open

     


    2010 Vienna Open Singles - Squad 3 Results



     


    2010 Vienna Open Doubles - Squad 3 Results



     


    Singles Qualifying - Standings after Squad 3 of 17
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    Doubles - Standings after Squad 3 of 17

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