Habib Dogan, Mehmet Kaya lead after Squad 4 to earn spots for the finals in Istanbul

    05/09/11

    2011 European Bowling Tour #8

    Ebru Özoğluuntur, Marina Stefanova advance through Desperado Squad No. 1

    2011EBT08HabibDogan.jpg2011EBT08MehmetKaya.jpgHabib Dogan (pictured left) and Mehmet Kaya (right) of Turkey led the third and fourth qualifying squad of the 8th Istanbul Bowling Open with 1189 and 1187, respectively, to lead the field of 72 players from five countries - Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Russia, Sweden and the host country Turkey - after the first weekend.

    By virtue of finishing 1, 2 on a separate leaderboard of Squads 1-4, both players are automatically qualified for the finals if they won't finish qualifying among the top 38. In case one or both players will finish in the top 38, the next player or players of the Squad 1-4 list will take advantage.

    2011EBT08GulhanAksular.jpg2011EBT08BurakNatal.jpgDogan, a long-time Turkish international, had games of 188, 209, 195, 227, 194 and 176 to win Squad 3 and a 350 Euro bonus (IBO offers 250 Euro for each qualifying squad winner and 100 Euro for the top local bowler of each squad) by six pins over Gulhan Aksular (left), who had 1183 including 48 pins women's handicap, good for third place overall.

    Kaya rolled games of 202, 205, 193, 202, 202 and 183 beating compatriot Celalettin Cakir for the bonus by 22 pins. Cakir overtook fourth place with 1155.

    2011EBT08EbruOzogluuntur.jpg2011EBT08MarinaStefanova.jpgVusal Caferov of Azerbaijan is the best non-Turkish bowler after four of 20 squads in fifth place with 1145. Day one leader Burak Natal (above right) slipped to eighth place with 1110.

    Following Squad 3 and 4 on Sunday afternoon was Desperado Squad No. 1 for players who have played at least one of the first four squads. Two women, Ebru Özoğluuntur (left), Turkey (227+8), and Marina Stefanova (right), Bulgaria (208+8), led the Desperado Squad with 235 and 216, respectively, en route to earn a spot for the finals on Sunday, May 15.

    Onur Demirkıran, Turkey, was third with 212. If Özoğluuntur or Stefanova will finish qualifying among the top 38, Demirkıran would be the next player on the roster to advance.

    Qualifying continues on Monday with Squad 5 scheduled for 8 p.m. local time (7 p.m. CET).

    IstanbulOpenLogo2.jpgThe 8th Istanbul Bowling Open is the 8th stop of the 2011 European Bowling Tour and the second out of six EBT "Gold" tournaments this season. The tournament will be held from May 7-15, 2011 at 20-lane Timeout Bowling Center in the heart of Istanbul, Turkey and offers total prize fund of 70.000 Euro with 10.000 Euro going to the winner, 6.000 to the runner-up and 3.500 each to the third and fourth place finishers.

    2010EBT08RebeckaLarsen_small.jpg201011PBAMikaKoivuniemi_small.jpg 2010-11 PBA Player of the Year Mika Koivuniemi of Finland (pictured left), is the defending champion. Koivuniemi, the only multiple EBT champion this season, fired games of 258 and 290 to defeat Mykhaylo Kalika, Ukraine, 548-424, in the title match of the 7th Istanbul Bowling Open to pocket the 10.000 Euro top prize. Third place finisher Rebecka Larsen (right), Sweden, has won the IBO women rankings in 2010.

    Since the Viborg International in Viborg, Denmark, 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 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 fifth 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 single lane condition.

    The qualifying of the 8th Istanbul Bowling Open runs from Saturday May 7 through Saturday, April 14 with the last qualifying squad 20 scheduled for 8 p.m. (7 p.m. CET). Each squad winner takes 250 Euro while the top local bowler in each squad receives 100 Euro. Qualifying will conclude with the one-game Desperado Squad 2 slated for 11.30 p.m..

    The Istanbul Bowling Open features a 38 feet Kegel lane conditioning pattern with 27ml oil volume and a 2.11 ratio.

    A total of 48 players will qualify for the finals on Sunday, May 15, including the top 38 players from the overall qualifying standings, the top two players from the combined standings of the first two days (Squads 1-4) which are not among the top 38 plus the top 2 from Desperado Squad 1 (Sunday, May 8) and the top 6 players from Desperado Squad 2 (Sunday, May 15). The top 8 qualifiers will earn three byes, qualifiers 9-18 will receive two byes and qualifiers 19-28 will bypass the first round of the finals.

    Rounds 1-5 consist of four games with each round starting from scratch. The field will be trimmed to 38, 28, 18, 8 and then four who will advance to the semifinals (Round 6). No. 1 bowls No. 4 and No. 2 bowls No. 3 with the two-game total pinfall to determine the winners, who will bowl for the title, the 10.000 € top prize and 150 ranking points.

     


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