Heidi Thorstensen leads Squad 8 to crack top 10 in Linne Norwegian Open

    08/26/11

    2011 European Bowling Tour #14

    Thomas Fagerstrøm continues to lead qualifying with eight squads to go

    2011EBT13HeidiThorstensen.jpg2009NOThomasFagerstrom.jpgQualifying of the Linne Norwegian Open resumed Thursday after a three-day hiatus with squads 8 and 9 at Veitvet Bowling Center in Oslo, Norway.

    Norwegian national team member Heidi Thorstensen (pictured left) started the day with a 1310 series, an average of 218.33, to lead Squad 8 with 1358 including 48 pins women's handicap en route to leap into eighth place in the overall qualifying standings.

    Thorstensen, who finished fourth in the last European Bowling Tour tournament in Bratislava, Slovakia winning the women's ranking of an EBT stop for the first time in her career, had games of 225, 206, 244, 180, 212 and 243.

    2011MECMadsSandbakken.jpg2009NOFredrikTjernes.jpgSquad 6 leader Thomas Fagerstrøm (above right), Norway, held on to the lead with 1462 and an average of 243.67. Norwegian national team members Mads Sandbækken (left) and Fredrik Tjernes (right) remained in second and third place with 1436 and 1415, respectively.

    Lars Lindbäck of Sweden is still the best foreigner in the 111-player field from six countries in sixth place with 1365. Squad 9 leader Martin Olsen, Norway, had the highest block of the day to move into 11th place with 1320 and an average of 220.

    With eight qualifying squads to go, Ronny Moen, Norway, holds the 36th and last place to advance to the finals with 1217 and an average of 202.83.

    Qualifying continues on Friday, Aug. 26 with Squads 10-13 scheduled for 9 a.m., 1, 5 and 9 p.m. CET.

    2011EBT14NorwegianOpenLogo.jpg After a three-year hiatus, the Linne Norwegian Open is back on the European Bowling Tour schedule. The tournament, which will be held Aug. 19-28, 2011 at 30-lane Veitvet Bowling Center in Norway's capital city Oslo, is the 14th stop of the 2011 European Bowling Tour and the third out of six EBT "Satellite" tournaments this season.

    The tournament offers total prize fund of 160.000 Norwegian Kronor (NOK), approx. 20.000 Euro with 30.000 NOK or 3.800 Euro going to the winner, 15.000 NOK to the runner-up and 10.000 NOK to the third place finisher.

    2009VOFinalTobiasKarlsson.jpg2007EBT17IngunnOien4.jpg Tobias Karlsson (left), Sweden, was the last EBT champion in Norway winning both of his two career EBT titles in the Norwegian Open 2006 and 2007. In 2007, Karlsson, seeded fourth, defeated tournament leader Ingunn Øien (right) in the semifinal, 226-219, and her compatriot Mads Sandbækken in the title match, 223-209, to wrap up the title. Øien finished third to win the women's ranking.

    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 such as the Norwegian Open 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.

    Qualifying of the Linne Norwegian Open (six-game series, unlimited re-entries) runs from Friday, Aug. 19 through Saturday, Aug. 27 with the last Squad 17 scheduled for 9 p.m. CET Women will receive 8 pins handicap each game throughout the entire event, a standard for women on the European Bowling Tour.

    The Linne Norwegian Open features a 41 feet Kegel lane conditioning pattern with 24.4ml volume oil total.

    A total of 40 players will advance to the finals on Sunday, Aug. 28: The top 36 players from the overall qualifying standings plus the top 2 from a separate leaderboard of Squads 1-7, who are not among the top 48, The last two spots are reserved for the leader of Turbo 1 and Turbo 2 (highest score in qualifying game #5 and #6, resp.; extra entry fee required).

    The top 2 qualifiers earn two byes, while players seeded 3-8 bypass the first round of the finals. The remaining 32 players will bowl four games starting from scratch with the top 14 advancing to the second round.

    Those 14 plus qualifiers 3-8 will bowl another four-game block from scratch to cut to the top 10, who will join the top 2 (seeded 1st and 2nd) qualifiers in Round 3. Those 12 will be split into four groups of three players (Group A: 1 - 8 - 12 seed; Group B: 2 - 7 - 11; Group C: 3 - 6 - 10; Group D: 4 - 5 - 9).

    Each of the following rounds will be decided in single-game matches. The player with the lowest score in each group will be eliminated. The four group winners advance to the finals. The player with the lowest score in quarterfinal will finish fourth and the player with the lowest score in the semifinal will finish third.

    The two remaining players will bowl for the title and the 30.000 NOK top prize.

     


    Related Articles


    Thomas Fagerstrøm takes over lead in Linne Norwegian Open 2011
    Team Norway's Sandbækken, Tjernes set the pace in Linne Norwegian Open 2011
    2011 EBT Schedule and Champions

     


    Standings after Qualifying Squad 9/17

    Â