Osku Palermaa refuses to fall; wins qualifying at Brunswick Ballmaster Open

    01/09/11

    2011 European Bowling Tour #1

    Määttä, Jussila shoot perfectos No. 2 and 3; cut for 44th place is 1345

    201011PBAOskuPalermaa.jpg201011PBAMikaKoivuniemi.jpgFinland's two-hander Osku Palermaa (pictured left), has won the qualifying of the 41st Brunswick Ballmaster Open at Tali Bowling Center in Helsinki, Finland. Palermaa, who has won his first PBA title in the GEICO Shark Championship in Nov. 2010, led the field of 406 players from 22 countries - 345 men and 61 women - since the first qualifying day with 1467 six-game total and an average of 244.50. Palermaa had games of 203, 236 and 243 and closed out the set with 269, 257 and 259.

    Defending champion Mika Koivuniemi (right) led Squad 15 on Saturday with 1451 to move into second place in the overall qualifying standings trailing qualifying winner Palermaa by 16 pins. The eight-time PBA champion was followed by four-time PBA champion Sean Rash, United States, who was third with 1447.

    2011EBT01TonyRanta.jpg2011EBT01MikaMaatta2.jpgSquad 14 leader Tony Ranta moved into fourth place with 1425. 2010 European Bowling Tour ranking champion Dominic Barrett, England, was fifth with 1423 and Mattias Olsson, Sweden was sixth with 1420.

    Mika Määttä (rightt) and Perttu Jussila, both Finland, rolled the second and third 300 game in qualifying squads 14 and 15. Jussila leaped into seventh place with 1418, while Määttä made the first cut in 15th place with 1397.

    Dennis Eklund, Sweden, was the "man on the bubble" heading into the last squad but led Squad 16 with 1382 to jump into 19th place. His compatriot Kristoffer Hagelberg took the 44th and last place to advance with 1345 and an average of 224.17.

    Joining the top 44 in the finals were the top 4 from the one-game Desperado Squad: Ville Holmström, Finland (268), who had the first 300 game of the tournament but managed only 1224; Juha Maja, Finland (267), who was 242nd with 1153 including a high game of 208; Raymond Teece, England (257); and Heidi Manninen, Finland (251).

    Manninen became the fifth woman in the final joining World Games champion Krista Pöllänen, Finland (9th, 1412), 2009 EBT ranking champion Nicki Ainge, England (23rd, 1371), 20-time PWBA champion Carolyn Dorin-Ballard, United States (28th, 1367), and reigning EBT ranking champion Nina Flack, Sweden (42nd, 1348).

    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.

    Qualifying ran from Saturday. Jan. 1 through Saturday, Jan. 8, and ended 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 - qualified for the finals on Sunday, Jan. 9. No byes were 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 - Standings after Qualifying and Desperado Squad