No changes atop the leaderboard in Istanbul on Wednesday

    05/12/11

    2011 European Bowling Tour #8

    Turkey's Mehmet Kaya, Mehmet Ali Tıkır win 350 Euro bonus in Squads 7 and 8

    2011EBT08MehmetKaya2.jpg2011EBT08GulhanAksular.jpgMehmet Kaya (pictured left) of Turkey continued to lead the 8th Istanbul Bowling Open after the conclusion of Wednesday's qualifying squads 7 and 8 at Timeout Bowling Center in Istanbul, Turkey.

    Kaya is still the sole player among the 93 competitors - 80 men and 13 women - from eight countries who has cracked the 1200-bar (200 average). Kaya, who took over the lead with 1248 (208 average) six-game total in Squad 6 on Tuesday evening, led Squad 7 on Wednesday afternoon to win his second consecutive squad and his second 350 Euro bonus (250 for winning the squad and another 100 for being the top local bowler). Kaya totaled 1207 pins (201.17) but was unable to improve his series despite a 256 in game #4.

    Christian Karlsson, Sweden, remained in second place with 1194 and is followed by Habib Dogan, Turkey, in third with 1189.

    Gulhan Aksular (above right), Turkey, is the top-ranked woman in fourth place with 1183 including 48 pins handicap followed by Vusal Caferov, Azerbaijan, in fifth with 1176,

    2011EBT08MehmetAliTikir.jpg2011EBT08AdileMichajlow.jpgMehmet Ali Tikir (left), Turkey and Peter Nordersson, Sweden, battled it out for the bonus in Squad 8 on Wednesday evening. Tikir nipped Nordersson, 1173 to 1169, to grab the 350 Euro bonus. They also leaped into sixth and seventh place in the overall qualifying standings.

    Adile Michajlow (right), Germany, had 1107 including handicap in Squad 8 to become the best non-Turkish woman in the field in 18th place. Mustafa Erbey of Turkey holds the 38th and last spot to advance with 1036 pinfall total and an average of 172.67.

    Qualifying continues on Thursday with Squads 9-12 scheduled for 10 a.m., 2, 6 and 10 p.m. local time (CET -1).

    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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    Qualifying Standings after Squad 8/20

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