Danes Carsten Warming Hansen, Lars Nielsen qualify for finals in Aalborg

    05/23/11

    2011 European Bowling Tour #9

    Lead Bowltech Aalborg International 2011 after Day One Qualifying

    2009VOLarsNielsen.jpg29 Danes - 24 men and five women - took to the lanes at Lovvang Bowling Center in Aalborg, Denmark on the first day of qualifying at the Bowltech Aalborg International 2011. The top 2 players after the first two of 14 qualifying squads, Carsten Warming Hansen and Lars Nielsen, are automatically qualified for the finals next Sunday.

    Nielsen (pictured) had games of 258, 194, 179, 204, 207 and 214 to lead Squad 1 on Sunday afternoon with 1256 six-game total and an average of 209.33. Warming Hansen, who was second to Nielsen in Squad 1 with 1250, became the first player in this year's event who cracked the 1300-bar when he posted a 1307 series (217.83 ave.) in Squad 2 featuring games of 222, 194, 187, 278, 199 and 227.

    By virtue of being the top 2 of the first two squads, Warming Hansen and Nielsen will receive a wild card for the finals. If of them finishes among the top 38 or finish 1, 2 in squads 6-7 or 3-5, third-place Jan Andersen, who was second in Squad 2 with 1242, will be the first to take advantage.

    Qualifying continues on Monday evening with Squad 3 scheduled for 7 p.m. CET.

    BAILogo_small.jpg The Bowltech Aalborg International 2011 is the 9th stop of the 2011 European Bowling Tour and the third out of six EBT "Gold" tournaments this season.

    The tournament will be held from May 22-29, 2011 at 30-lane Lovvang Bowling Center in Aalborg, Denmark and offers total prize fund of 60.000 Euro with 9.000 Euro going to the winner, 5.000 to the runner-up and 4.000 to the third place finisher.

    2011EBT04DominicBarrett_small.jpg2009VOKamillaKjeldsen4_small.jpg Dominic Barrett (left), England, defeated Petteri Salonen, Finland, in the title match of the 2010 Aalborg International over two games total pinfall, 460-445, en route to win the 2010 European Bowling Tour Men's Ranking. Barrett, who had games of 201 and 259, received the 10.000 Euro top prize. Kamilla Kjeldsen (right), Denmark, just missed the finals to finish fifth and to win the women's ranking in Aalborg.

    Since the Viborg International in Viborg in 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 such as the Aalborg International 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 lane condition.

    The qualifying of the Bowltech Aalborg International 2011 (six-game series, unlimited re-entries) runs from Sunday May 22 through Saturday, May 28 with the last qualifying squad 14 scheduled for 7 p.m. CET. The qualifying winner will receive a 1.000 Euro bonus. Qualifying will conclude with the one-game Desperado Squad slated for 10 p.m.. Women will receive 8 pins handicap each game throughout the entire event, a standard for women on the European Bowling Tour.

    The Bowltech Aalborg International 2011 features a 37 feet Kegel lane conditioning pattern with 24.55ml oil volume.

    A total of 48 players will qualify for the finals on Sunday, May 29 - the top 38 players from the overall qualifying standings plus the top two players each from a combined standing of Squads 1-2, 3-5 and 6-8 which are not among the top 38, and the top 4 from the Desperado Squad.

    The top 12 qualifiers will earn two byes while players ranked 13-24 will bypass the first round of the finals.

    Rounds 1-3 will feature 4-game series starting from scratch which will trim the field to 36, 24 and then 12 who will advance to the final Round 4. Those 12 players will roll a six-game series with the pinfall from Round 3 being carried forward. The player with the highest 10-game total including handicap will be declared the champion.

     


    Qualifying Standings after Squad 2/14

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