PBA Player of the Year Mika Koivuniemi rises to the top in Barcelona

    07/16/11

    2011 European Bowling Tour #12

    Other squad leaders on Friday are Jesper Agerbo, Thomas Larsen and Joline Persson Planefors

    2011EBT08MikaKoivuniemi.jpg2011EBT04ZulmazranZulkifli2.jpgReigning PBA Player of the Year, Mika Koivuniemi (pictured left) of Finland posted a 1433 six-game total Friday night at Bowling Pedralbes in Barcelona, Spain to lead Squad 11 en route to overtake the lead in the qualifying of the 33rd Trofeu Internacional Ciutat de Barcelona.

    Starting the day in 42nd place Koivuniemi, currently the No. 3 in the European Bowling Tour men's ranking, averaged 238.83 including games of 231, 269, 228, 204, 258 and 243 to lead the 167 players from 26 countries - 107 men and 60 women - into the final day of qualifying.

    2011EBT07JesperAgerbo.jpg2011EBT11ThomasLarsen.jpgPrevious leader Zulmazran Zulkifli (above right), one of ten Malaysian national team members in the field, slipped to second place with 1430 and is followed by Marcus Berndt, Sweden, in third place with 1424, Mats Maggi, Belgium, in fourth place with 1405 and compatriot Syafiq Ridhwan, Malaysia, in fifth place with 1404.

    Maggi is the sole non-squad leader in the top five. Each of the 15 squad leaders earns an automatic spot in the finals on Sunday, July 17th. Joining Koivuniemi in the elite club from Friday's squads were Danes Jesper Agerbo (left) and Thomas Larsen (right), who led Squad 8 and 9 with 1333 and 1369, respectively.

    2011USWOJolinePerssonPlanefors2.jpg2011EBT04ZandraAziela.jpgAgerbo finished the day 21st place, just one place and four pins ahead of the top local bowler, Marcial Ovide, who is the last of 11 squad leaders so far in 22nd place with 1329. Swede Joline Persson Planefors (left) led Squad 10 with 1336 total including 48 pins handicap to take 17th place in the overall qualifying standings.

    Zandra Aziela (right) become the best woman in the field when the Malaysian international totaled 1351, the second-best score in Squad 11, to leap into 13th place. PBA Hall of Famer Amleto Monacelli (below left) of Venezuela averaged 225 in Squad 9 to move into 14th place with 1350.

    2011EBT11AmletoMonacellit.jpgIMG 2011EBT04WendyKok12.jpg14 of the 60 women are currently above or on the cut line which is 42nd place supposed that all 15 squad leaders will be among top 42. Places 39 through 42 belong to women, Sharon Koh and Siti Shazwani, both of Malaysia, Wendy Kok (right), Netherlands, and Jenny Johansson, Sweden, who currently holds 42nd and last place to advance with 1291, a 215.17 average.

    Qualifying ends on Saturday June 16 with Squads 12-15 scheduled for 9 a.m., 1, 5 and 9 p.m. CET.

    2011CiutatBarcelonaLogo_small.jpg The 33rd Trofeu Internacional Ciutat de Barcelona is the 12th stop of the 2011 European Bowling Tour and the fifth and penultimate EBT "Gold" tournaments this season.

    The tournament will be held from July 12-17, 2011 at 14-lane Bowling Pedralbes in Barcelona, Spain and offers total prize fund of 60.000 Euro with 12.000 Euro going to the winner, 6.000 to the runner-up and 3.000 to the third place finisher.

    2010EBT12GeryVerbruggen_small.jpg2011USWONinaFlack2_small.jpg In the 2010 stepladder finals, Gery Verbruggen of Belgium defeated PBA Hall of Famer Brian Voss, United States, and eventual EBT ranking champion Dominic Barrett , England, to win the 32nd Trofeu Internacional Ciutat de Barcelona and the 12.000 Euro top prize. It was the 10th career EBT title for the 4-time European Bowling Tour ranking champion (2000-'03) and the first since 2008. Eventual women's EBT Ranking champion Nina Flack, Sweden, finished in 6th place and received 1.800 Euro for sixth place and a 1.200 Euro bonus for being the best woman in the tournament.

    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 Trofeu Internacional Ciutat de Barcelona 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 Trofeu Internacional Ciutat de Barcelona features a 41 feet Kegel lane conditioning pattern with 24.6ml volume oil total.

    A total of 48 players will advance to the finals on Sunday - the top 42 qualifiers including all squad leaders and an additional six women.

    Those 48 players will carry forward 50 per cent of their qualifying total and bowl four games to cut to the top 24, who will bowl another four games with the Round One total being carried forward. The top 3 players after Round Two qualify for the stepladder finals.

    The No. 3 seed bowls No. 2 and the winner takes on No. 1 to determine the champion in one-game matches.

     


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    Qualifying Standings after Squad 11/15


    A total of 42 players including all squad leaders (bold face) plus an additional six women will advance to the finals.

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