Squad 10-12 leaders move into top 6 at 41st Brunswick Ballmaster Open

    01/08/11

    2011 European Bowling Tour #1

    Palermaa leads 385-player field into final qualifying day; cut for 44th place is 1323

    201011PBASeanRash.jpg201011PBAOskuPalermaa.jpgFive players cracked the top 6 in the qualifying of the 41st Brunswick Ballmaster Open during squads 10-12 Saturday at Tali Bowling Center in Helsinki, Finland.

    Four-time PBA champion Sean Rash (pictured left) led the penultimate qualifying day with 1447 en route to jump into second place in the overall qualifying standings. Rash had games of 245, 255, 203, 227, 249 and 268, an average of 241.17 to trail qualifying leader Osku Palermaa (right), Finland, by 20 pins. Palermaa leads the qualifying since the first day with 1467.

    2010EBT16DominicBarrett.jpg2011EBT01RasmusHagelberg.jpg2010 European Bowling Tour ranking champion Dominic Barrett (left), England, was second to Rash in Squad 12 with 1423 including high games of 278 and 268 to move into third place.

    Fourth place belonged to Mattias Olsson, Sweden, who led Squad 10 with 1420. Defending Ballmaster champion and 8-time PBA titlist Mika Koivuniemi, Finland, was mere four pins behind Olsson to overtake fifth place with 1416. Rasmus Hagelberg (right), Sweden, led Squad 11 with 1412 to leap into sixth place.

    2009 World Games champion Krista Pöllänen, Finland, slipped from second to seventh place with 1412 including 48 pins handicap. Pöllänen is the best of 58 women in the field and one just five who are among the top 44.

    201011PBAChrisBarnes.jpg200910PBARonnieRussell2.jpgOthers are 20-time PWBA champion Carolyn Dorin-Ballard, United States (22nd, 1367), 2010 EBT women's ranking champion Nina Flack, Sweden (32nd, 1348), Marija Tkachenko, Latvia (34th, 1344) and Heidi Manninen, Finland (36th, 1334).

    2007-08 PBA Player of the Year Chris Barnes (left)  is currently in 17th place with 1374. His fellow PBA exempt players Ronnie Russell (right) and Chris Loschetter, all United States, sit in 31st and 40th place with 1348 and 1333, respectively.

    With 385 players from 22 countries in the books, Panu Nurmilo, Finland many the 44th and last place to advance with 1323 or an average of 220.50. his compatriot Ville Holmström rolled the tournament's lone 300 game so far in Squad 10 but finished the day in 133rd place with 1224 due to four sub-200 games - a pair of 140s and a pair of 190s.

    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.

     


    Related Articles


    Osku Palermaa continues to lead qualifying in 41st Brunswick Ballmaster Open
    No changes atop the Ballmaster leaderboard in "Senior" Squad 6 on Wednesday
    Finns Ryhänen, Hurri move into the top 10 in Ballmaster Open qualifying on Tuesday
    Pöllänen, Verbruggen, Uotila crack the 1400-bar in Brunswick Ballmaster Open
    Osku Palermaa leads 41st Brunswick Ballmaster Open after Day One Qualifying
    2011 European Bowling Tour season to start with 41st Brunswick Ballmaster Open

     


    2011 Brunswick Ballmaster Open - Qualifying Standings after Squad 12/16