Mika Koivuniemi continues to lead Istanbul Open heading into the final day of qualifying

    05/14/11

    2011 European Bowling Tour #8

    Larsen, Stampe, Breeschoten surpass 1300-mark; cut for 38th place is now 1198

    2011EBT08MikaKoivuniemi.jpg

    2011EBT08ThomasLarsen.jpgDefending Istanbul Open champion Mika Koivuniemi (pictured left) of Finland leads a field of 166 players - 133 men and 33 women - from 17 countries into the final day of qualifying at Timeout Bowling Center in Istanbul, Turkey.

    Koivuniemi, a six-time European Bowling Tour champion and the only player who has won multiple titles this season, held on to the lead during Friday's squads 13-16 with 1367 six-game total and an average of 227.83.

    Koivuniemi bowled another 1325 series in Squad 14 but got beaten by Dane Thomas Larsen (right) for the 250 Euro squad winner bonus. Larsen, currently the No. 2 in the 2011 EBT Men's Ranking (Koivuniemi is fourth) had games over 220, 219, 219, 223, 247 and 207 to leap into second place in the overall qualifying standings with 1335 (222.50).

    Larsen's compatriot Mik Stampe was mere three pins behind Koivuniemi with 1322 en route to move into third place.

    2011EBT08LisanneBreeschoten.jpg2011EBT04PaulMoor.jpgDutch international Lisanne Breeschoten (left) led the morning squad 13 with 1307 including 48 pins handicap to become the first woman who surpassed the 1300-mark this year. Breeschoten leaped from seventh to fourth place and is the best of twelve women in the top 38.

    Perttu Jussila, Finland, slipped to fourth place with 1296. Paul Moor (right), England, who led the EBT men's ranking from 2004 through 2006, and Frederik Øhrgaard, Denmark, had 1293 and 1286 in Squad 13 to sit in sixth and seventh place, respectively.

    Swede Martin Larsen fell from third to eighth place with 1279 and is followed by compatriot Joline Persson-Planefors in ninth place with 1275 including handicap.

    2011EBT08KarlWahlgren.jpg2011EBT08PaulStott.jpgPBA champion Osku Palermaa, Finland, improved his high series by 37 pins but remained in tenth place with 1274. Koivuniemi, Larsen and Palermaa are the only players who have rolled a six-game series with all games over 200.

    Joining Larsen and Breeschoten as squad winners on Friday were Karl Wahlgren (left), Sweden, and Paul Stott (right), Ireland. Wahlgren finished Squad 15 with 244, 216 and 202 for 1213 (202.17), good for 34th place. Stott used high games of 254 and 22 for 1251 (208.50) to move into 16th place. All four squad winners received a 250 Euro bonus.

    2011EBT08TaygunErkeskin.jpgMustafa Onur (1134), Mustafa Turgay (right; 790), who was the sole Turkish bowler in Squad 14, Taygun Erkeskin (1142) and Emre Kumru (1119) were the top local bowlers in the four squads on Friday and pocketed a 100 Euro bonus.

    Ebru Özogluuntur, Turkey, currently holds the 38th and last place to advance with 1198. However, as the winner of Desperado Squad No. 1, Özogluuntur is automatically qualified for the finals if she falls out of the top 38.

    Qualifying continues on Friday with Squads 17-20 scheduled for 8 a.m., noon, 4 and 8 p.m. and concludes with Desperado Squad No. 2 slated for 11.30 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 16/20

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