Joonas Jehkinen leads Squad 1 in the 9th Catalonia Open - Trofeu Galasa

    03/16/11

    2011 European Bowling Tour #5

    Finn is automatically qualified for finals on Sunday, March 20

    2010EBT15JoonasJehkinen.jpgTwenty players from Catalonia, one of the Kingdom of Spain's seventeen autonomous communities, and Finn Joonas Jehkinen (pictured) took to the 14 lanes at Bowling Pedralbes in Barcelona, Spain, for the first of twelve qualifying squads of the 9th Catalonia Open - Trofeu Galasa.

    Jehkinen (pictured), a member of the Finnish national team, averaged 220 for six games to take the early lead in the tournament with 1320 pinfall total. He had games of 256, 185, 217, 246, 214 and 202.

    As a squad leader, Jehkinen is automatically qualified for finals on Sunday, March 20.

    Trailing Jehkinen by 63 pins to land in second place was Hector Roca with 1257. Third place belonged to Rosa Mas, who was the best of six women on the opening day with 1170 including 48 pins handicap.

    Qualifying continues on Wednesday, March 16 with Squad 2 scheduled for 9 p.m. CET.

    The 9th Catalonia Open - Trofeu Galasa is the fifth tournament on the 2011 European Bowling Tour schedule and the second of total seven "Silver" events this season.

    The Catalonia Open, which will be held from March 15-20, 2011 at 14-laner Bowling Pedralbes in Barcelona, Spain, offers total prize money of 44.700 Euro (approx. US $62,345) with 6.000 Euro going to the winner, 3.000 to the runner-up and 2.000 to the third place finisher.

    2010EBT15ThomasLarsen_small.jpg2011EBT04LuzAdrianaLeal_small.jpgThomas Larsen (left), Denmark (left) is the defending champion, while Luz Adriana Leal (right), Colombia, who finished third, has won the women's rankings.

    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 top 50 men and the top 50 women in each event receive ranking points. The winner of a Platinum tournament receives 250 ranking points, the winner of a Gold tournament gets 150, the winner of a Silver tournament such as the Catalonia Open earns 100, and the winner of a Satellite tournament gets 50 ranking points.

    The top 16 men and the top 16 women at the end of the 2011 season qualify for the 5th EBT Masters to be held at Dream-Bowl Palace in Unterföhring near Munich, Germany on April 30 and May 1, 2012. The event will become the first EBT Masters to be contested on lane condition.

    Qualifying runs from Tuesday March 15 and runs through Saturday, March. 19 with the final Squad 12 slated for 9 p.m. CET. Women will receive 8 pins handicap each game throughout the entire event, a standard for women on the European Bowling Tour.

    A total of 48 players, the top 42 qualifiers including all squad leaders plus the next six women will advance to the finals and carry forward 50 per cent of their respective qualifying total into Final Round One.

    Those 48 players will bowl four games to cut to the top 24 with the pinfall total being carried forward into Final Round Two. Those 24 will determine the top three players for the stepladder finals in another four-game block.

    In the semifinal, the No. 3 seed takes on No. 2 for the right to bowl the top seeded player for the title and the 6.000 Euro top prize.

     


    Qualifying Standings after Squad 1/12

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