Mika Koivuniemi shoots another high series to win qualifying in Istanbul

    05/15/11

    2011 European Bowling Tour #8

    Defending champion leads a field of 48 players into Sunday's finals

    2011EBT08MikaKoivuniemi2.jpg2011EBT08PaulMoor.jpgMika Koivuniemi (pictured left) of Finland won the eight-day qualifying of the 8th Istanbul Bowling Open en route to lead a field of 48 players into the finals on Sunday at Timeout Bowling Center in Istanbul, Turkey.

    The defending champion, who led the tournament since Squad 11 of 20 with 1367, improved his high series by 19 pins on Saturday evening when he led the penultimate qualifying squad with 1386, a 231 average, including high games of 299 and 279. Koivuniemi received a 250 Euro bonus for winning that squad and another 1.100 Euro for winning the qualifying.

    Paul Moor (right), England, who led the European Bowling Tour men's ranking from 2004 through 2006, jumped into second place after leading Squad 18 with 1342 six-game total (223.67).

    2011EBT08ThomasLarsen.jpg2011EBT08LisanneBreeschoten.jpgDanes Thomas Larsen (left) and Mik Stampe slipped one spot to finish qualifying in third and fourth place with 1335 and 1322, respectively. Lisanne Breeschoten (right) was the best of 34 women in the 173-player field from 17 countries in fifth place with 1307 including 48 pins handicap. A total of 15 women survived the first cut.

    Rounding out the top 8, who will bypass the first three rounds of the finals, were Robert Andersson, Sweden, in sixth place with 1303, Perttu Jussila, Finland, in seventh place with 1296 and Frederik Øhrgaard, Denmark, in eighth place with 1286.

    2011EBT08HelenJohnso.jpg2011EBT08TonyRanta.jpgJoining Koivuniemi and Moor as squad winners on Saturday were Helen Johnsson (left), Sweden, and Tony Ranta (right), Finland. Johnsson led Squad 17 with 1266 including handicap to land in 14th place. Qualifiers 9-18 will bypass the first two rounds of the finals.

    Ranta rolled a 1240 series in the 20th and last squad to grab 28th place. Qualifiers 19-28 will bypass the first round of finals.

    Gülhan Aksular (1133), Burak Natal (1133), Mustafa Onur (1215) and Habib Dogan (1178) were the top local bowlers in the four squads on Saturday each earning a 100 Euro bonus.

    2011EBT08GennadiySidorov.jpgTwo-time European Youth Champion (Singles and All Events) Daria Kovalova and Team Denmark's Jesper Agerbo took the last two spots to advance in 37th and 38th place with 1229, an average of 204.83.

    Qualifying concluded Saturday night with Desperado Squad No. 2 led by Gennadiy Sidorov (right) of Russia with 255.

    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 ran from Saturday May 7 through Saturday, April 14. Each squad winner took 250 Euro while the top local bowler in each squad received 100 Euro.

    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 qualified 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 earned three byes, qualifiers 9-18 received two byes and qualifiers 19-28 bypassed 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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    Standings after Qualifying


    A total of 48 players including the top 38 from the qualifying, the top two players from the combined standings of the first two days (places 45 and 46), the top 2 from Desperado Squad 1 (places 47 and 48) and the top 6 players from Desperado Squad 2 (places 39-44) advance to the finals.

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