No changes atop the Ballmaster leaderboard in "Senior" Squad 6 on Wednesday

    01/06/11

    2011 European Bowling Tour #1

    The top 5 players move into the top 44; cut for 44th place is currently 1256

    2011EBT01OskuPalermaa.jpg2011EBT01KristaPollanen.jpgThe top 16 players remained unchanged after the sixth qualifying squad in the 41st Brunswick Ballmaster Open Wednesday afternoon at Tali Bowling Center in Helsinki, Finland.

    Reijo Saarinen of Finland led the "Senior" (50 & over) squad with 1333 six-game total, an average of 222.17, to move into 17th place in the overall qualifying standings. Saarinen had games of 216, 249, 238, 171, 213 and 246.

    Another four Finns moved into the top 44, who will survive the qualifying cut. Teemu Asplund sits in 24th place behind a 1313 series. Matti Paasikoski had 1310, good for 27th place. Long-time national team member Teemu Raatikainen overtook 30th place with 1303 and was followed by Tero Suokas, who mans 42nd place with 1261.

    2010EBT15GeryVerbruggen.jpg2011EBT01CarolynDorinBallard.jpgWith 229 Finns and nine players from Belgium, Germany, Russia, Sweden and United States) in the books, Finland's two-hander Osku Palermaa (above left)  leads the 238-player field with 1467 and an average of 244.50.

    His fellow countrywoman Krista Pöllänen (above right) is the best of 30 women in second place with 1412 including 48 pins handicap. The Finns dominated the qualifying so far.

    Third-placed Gery Verbruggen (left), Belgium, (1411), Carolyn Dorin-Ballard (right), United States (20th, 1324) and Mathias Ã…rup, Sweden (25th, 1312) are the only non-Finnish players in the top 44.

    Pauli Dahlbom, Finland, currently holds the 44th and last place to advance with 1256 or an average of 209.33. Qualifying continues on Thursday, Jam. 6 with Squads 7-9 at 11 a.m., 3 and 7 p.m. local time (CET -1).

    2010BallmasterOpenBanner.jpg The 41st Brunswick Ballmaster Open kicks off the 2011 European Bowling Tour and is the first of six "EBT Gold" events in the 2011 season. The tournament will be held from Saturday Jan. 1 through Sunday Jan. 9, 2010 at 36-lane Tali Bowl in Finland's capital city Helsinki.

    The Ballmaster is also the first of five tournaments of the inaugural World Bowling Tour organized by the World Tenpin Bowling Association for 2011.

    Players compete for total prize money of 90.000 Euro with 12.000 Euro going to the winner, 8.000 to the runner-up and 4.000 and 3.000 to third and fourth place finishers, respectively.

    Since the inception of the European Bowling Tour in the year 2000, the Ballmaster has been the season-opening event of the Tour. Heading into its 12th season the 2011 EBT will feature 22 tournaments - 2 Platinum, 6 Gold, 7 Silver and 7 Satellite - in 17 countries, three in Denmark, two each in Finland and Spain and one each in Austria, England, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Qatar, Russia, San Marino, Slovakia, Slovenia and Turkey. The total prize fund of the 2011 Tour exceeds 1.1 million Euro.

    201011PBAMikaKoivuniemi.jpg2010AGCherieTan.jpg The first edition of the Ballmaster Open back in 1971 was won by legendary Austrian player and coach, Josef Wiener. The "Big Finn", PBA champion Mika Koivuniemi (pictured left) is the defending champion. Cherie Tan (right), Singapore has won the women's ranking in 2010.

    Finnish bowlers will do their utmost to extend their winning streak as Finns have won the Ballmaster in each of the last 14 years. The last non-Finnish winner was Tore Torgersen, Norway, back in 1996.

    Among the players who have registered for the prestigious event are several U.S. professionals. Joining PBA champions Koivuniemi and Osku Palermaa, Finland, and PBA exempt player Stuart Williams, England are Brunswick pro staffers Sean Rash, Ronnie Russel, Tom Smallwood, Chris Loschetter and Carolyn Dorin-Ballard as well as 2007-08 PBA Player of the Year Chris Barnes.

    Qualifying runs through Saturday, Jan. 8, and ends with Squad 16 and the ultimate one-game Desperado Squad slated for 11.30 p.m. local time (CET +2) on Saturday night. Women will receive 8 pins handicap each game, a standard for women on the European Bowling Tour.

    A total of 48 players - the top 44 from the overall qualifying standings plus the top 4 from the Desperado Squad - will qualify for the finals on Sunday, Jan. 9. No byes will be given in this tournament.

    The finals are similar to the old PBA format. All 48 finalists will bowl 8 games starting from scratch to cut to the top 16 who will advance to the match play portion with the pinfall of Round 1 being carried forward

    Those 16 will bowl 15 games of round robin match play plus one game position round. Players earn 30 bonus pins for each match won and 15 points for a tied match. The top 4 players after 24 games including bonus will determine the champion in a traditional stepladder final.

    The No. 4 seed will start the show against the No. 3 seed in the opening match and the winner takes on the No. 2 seed for the right to bowl the top seed for the title, the 12.000 Euro top prize and 150 ranking points.

    The top 50 men and the top 50 women in each tournament of the 2011 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.

    The 2011 Brunswick Ballmaster Open champion and the women's ranking leader will automatically take over the lead in the 2011 EBT men's and women's ranking.

    The top 16 men and the top 16 women at the end of the 2011 EBT season will qualify for the 2012 EBT Masters to be held in conjunction with the 3rd Dream Bowl Palace Open in Unterföhring near Munich, Germany April 30 and May 1, 2012.

     


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    2011 Brunswick Ballmaster Open - Qualifying Standings after Squad 6/16

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