Dominic Barrett wins 2010 European Bowling Tour Men's Ranking

    12/01/10

    2010 European Bowling Rankings

    Nina Flack leads Women's Ranking; last event in Qatar starts Dec. 11th

    2010EBT16DominicBarrett.jpg2010EBT15MikaKoivuniemiOskuPalermaa.jpgDominic Barrett (pictured left), England, becomes just the fourth player in the 11-year history of the European Bowling Tour to win the Tour's men's point ranking.

    Belgium's Gery Verbruggen dominated the EBT in its first four years (2000-'03) and was succeeded by Paul Moor, England, who was the ranking champion from 2004-'06. Moor was followed by Osku Palermaa (right photo on the right), Finland, who has won the title in the past three years (2007-'09).

    With Verbruggen and Moor being both left-handed and Palermaa, who is using both hands to deliver the ball, Barrett becomes the first right-handed male ranking champion in Europe.

    As Barrett (999 points), who was atop the men's leaderboard for most of the season, and second and third placed Finns, Mika Koivuniemi (above right on the left, 748) and Palermaa (738) all preferred to bowl in the Weber Cup rather than in the penultimate 2010 Tour stop, the 1st Ebonite Roma International, Barrett maintained his 251-point lead in the ranking.

    2010EBT17PerttuJussila.jpg2010EBT10StuartWilliams2.jpgThough the final stop in Qatar offers 250 ranking points for the winner, five times as much as Rome International champion Perttu Jussila (left), Finland, received for his first EBT victory, Koivuniemi would fall one point short with 998 if he wins in Qatar and Barrett would not participate or would not finish among the top 50 men.

    Just two players of the top 16, Stuart Williams, England, and Peter Ljung, Sweden, participated in the 1st Ebonite Roma International. Williams (right) lost the title match to Jussila to finish second while Ljung was 11th in the men's ranking. They narrowed the gap to six-placed Moor (433), who also competed in the Weber Cup, but remained in seventh and eighth place with 393 and 346 points, respectively.

    Jussila leaped into 20th place with 233 ranking points just 35 points of the pace for the top 16.

    2010EBT15NickiAingeNinaFlack2.jpg2010EBT15WendyKok.jpgOn the women's side, 2008 ranking champion Nina Flack (pictured left with Nicki Ainge, left; 647), Sweden holds a 133-point buffer over Wendy Kok (right), Netherlands, who is second with 514. defending women's ranking champion Nicki Ainge, England, was the only woman in the top 16 who bowled in Rome. Ainge finished third behind Germany's Patricia Luoto and Birgit Pöppler and leaped two spots from fifth to third in ranking with 503 point total.

    The next eight players, Nicole Sanders, Netherlands (497); Ghislaine van der Tol, Netherlands (479); Priscilla Maaswinkel, Netherlands (449); Rebecka Larsen Jr., Sweden (424); Joline Persson Planefors, Sweden (417); Krista Pöllänen, Finland (410); Kamilla Kjeldsen, Denmark (403); and Lisanne Breeschoten, Netherlands (399) could overtake Flack with victory in the women's ranking in Qatar. Flack, who sealed her win in the rankings in 2008 by defeating Dominic Barrett in the title match of the 2008 Qatar International Open worth 30.000 Euro, must finish sixth in the season-ending event to shut out her opponents.

    As the field in Qatar was much smaller than in the EBT events in Europe (139 including 15 women in 2009; 144 players including 13 women in 2008) the task will be easier for Flack than it sounds.

    2010EBTLogo_small.jpg 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).

    The winner of a Platinum tournament receives 250 ranking points, the winner of a Gold tournament gets 150, the winner of a Silver tournament earns 100, and the winner of a Satellite tournament such as the 1st Ebonite Roma International gets 50 ranking points.

    The top 50 men and the top 50 women in each tournament of the 2010 European Bowling Tour will cash ranking points no matter from which country or World Tenpin Bowling Association Zone (Europe, Asia, America) he or she comes.

    2010BWCDianaZavjalova3.jpg201011PBAMartinLarsen.jpgThe top 16 men and the top 16 women at the end of the 2010 EBT season will qualify for the 2011 EBT Masters to be held at Gladiator Arena in Ljubljana, Slovenia, April 11-12, 2011.

    Diana Zavjalova (left), Latvia, currently holds the 16th and last spot to qualify for the Masters with 268 points, while Martin Larsen (right), Sweden is the "man on the bubble" with 264 points.

    The 2010 European Bowling Tour will conclude with the second "Platinum" event and the sole tournament outside Europe, the Qatar Bowling Open, Dec. 11-19, 2010 at the Qatar Bowling Center in Doha, Qatar.

     


    2010 European Bowling Tour Rankings by Bowlingdigital
    2010 EBT Men's Ranking
    2010 EBT Women's Ranking

     


    2010 Men's Ranking - Top 16 after Rome
    1. Dominic Barrett, England, 999
    2. Mika Koivuniemi, Finland, 748
    3. Osku Palermaa, Finland, 738
    4. Gery Verbruggen, Belgium, 604
    5. Thomas Larsen, Denmark, 488
    6. Paul Moor, England, 433
    7. Stuart Williams, England, 393
    8. Peter Ljung, Sweden, 346
    9. Dennis Eklund, Sweden, 322
    10. Tore Torgersen, Norway, 321
    11. Mathias Årup, Sweden, 308
    12. Michael Fagan, United States, 300
    13. Tomas Leandersson, Sweden, 290
    14. Jesper Agerbo, Denmark, 277
    15. Pete Weber, United States, 276
    16. Martin Larsen, Sweden, 264

     


    2010 Women's Ranking - Top 16 after Rome
    1. Nina Flack, Sweden, 647
    2. Wendy Kok, Netherlands, 514
    3. Nicki Ainge, England, 503
    4. Nicole Sanders, Netherlands, 497
    5. Ghislaine van der Tol, Netherlands, 479
    6. Priscilla Maaswinkel, Netherlands, 449
    7. Rebecka Larsen Jr. Sweden, 424
    8. Joline Persson Planefors, Sweden, 417
    9. Krista Pöllänen, Finland, 410
    10. Kamilla Kjeldsen, Denmark, 403
    11. Lisanne Breeschoten, Netherlands, 399
    12. Rikke Holm Rasmussen, Denmark, 378
    13. Tina Hulsch, Germany, 353
    14. Mai Ginge Jensen, Denmark, 313
    15. Nina Manninen, Finland, 282
    16. Diana Zavjalova, Latvia, 268

     


    2010 EBT Rankings - Men's Division after Rome


    Players with country, ranking point total and number of top 50 finishes

     


    2010 EBT Rankings - Women's Division after Rome


    Players with country, ranking point total and number of top 50 finishes