Bielski moves into second, Eklund cracks top 10 in International Wroclaw Open

    02/19/11

    2011 European Bowling Tour #2

    Falco Gutsche holds on to the lead; cut for 40th place is 1257 after 14/18 squads

    2011EBT02PawelBielski.jpg2011EBT02DennisEklund.jpgPaweł Bielski (pictured left) of Poland and Sweden's Dennis Eklund (right) moved into second and seventh place in the qualifying of the of the 5th International Wroclaw Open by Hammer Friday at bowling center Galeria Rozrywki Miraz in Wroclaw, Poland.

    Bielski had games of 226, 259, 289, 223, 203 and 246 to lead Squad 12 with 1446 six game total and, average of 241, and to improve his previous high series (1350) by 94 pins. Bielski trails tournament leader Falco Gutsche, Germany, by 17 pins, who leads the field of 107 players from nine countries since Tuesday's Squad 3.

    Gutsche's fellow countrymen Tim Friedrichs and Tilo Matthies slipped to third and fourth place with 1428 and 1424, respectively. Alessandro Silletti, Italy, was two pins behind Matthies in fifth place with 1422 and Dane Robert Norberg was sixth with 1415.

    Eklund, a two-time EBT champion, topped Squad 13 with 1375 total, an average of 229.17, to leap into seventh place in the overall qualifying standings. The Swede had games of 224, 214, 245, 229, 225 and 238.

    Rounding out the top 10 were three bowlers from Poland, Łukasz Zjawiony (1365), Patryk Preus (1364) and Ray McDowell (1349). Their fellow countrywoman Daria Pająk is the best of four women in the field and the sole in the top 40 in 20th place with 1306 including 48 pins handicap.

    Adam Martin, Poland, holds the 40th and last place to advance with 1243 (207.17). Qualifying ends on Friday, Feb. 19, with Squads 15 through 18 scheduled for 10 a.m., 1.30, 5 and 8.30 p.m. CET.

    2011IWOLogo_small.jpg The 5th International Wroclaw Open by Hammer (IWO) is the first of six European Bowling Tour "Satellite" events of the 2011 season. The tournament will be held from Monday Feb. 14 through Sunday Feb. 20, 2011 at bowling center Galeria Rozrywki Miraz, a 10-laner in Wroclaw, Poland.

    Since the Viborg International in Viborg, Denmark originally scheduled for July 30-Aug. 7, 2011 has been cancelled, the 2011 European Bowling Tour consists of 21 tour stops in 17 countries including two Platinum, six Gold, seven Silver and six Satellite tournaments.

    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 International Wroclaw Open gets 50 ranking points.

    The total prize fund of the 2011 Tour exceeds one million Euro. The top 16 men and women in the EBT ranking will qualify for the fifth EBT Masters at Dream Bowl Palace in Unterföhring near Munich, Germany on April 30 and May 1, 2012.

    Participants in the IWO will compete for total prize money of 26.000 Euro or approximately US $35,200 with 4.250 Euro going to the winner, 2.750 to the runner-up and 2.100 and 1.800 to third and fourth place finishers, respectively.

    Qualifying (6 games, unlimited re-entries) runs through Saturday, Feb. 19, and ends with Squad 18 slated for 8.30 p.m. CET on Saturday night. Women will receive 8 pins handicap each game, a standard for women on the European Bowling Tour.

    The tournament will be contested on a 41 ft. lane conditioning pattern (pdf file).

    The top 40 players from the qualifying will advance to the finals on Sunday Feb. 20. The pinfall will be carried forward from the qualifying through the stepladder finals. The top 40 will bowl 4 games with the top 20 advancing to the second round.

    Those 20 will bowl another 4 games to cut to the top 8 who advance to round robin match play. The top 4 players after seven match play games (20 pins bonus per win, 10 for a tie, 5 pins bonus for each game between 250 and 300) will advance to the stepladder finals.

    Stepladder matches one and two will be decided in one game, while the championship match features two games decided by total pinfall. The No. 4 seed bowls the No. 3 seed, the winner takes on the No. 2 seed and the winner of that semifinal match earns the right to bowl the No. 1 seed for the title.

     


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    Qualifying standings after Squad 14/18