It’s down to four men and women at European Champions Cup

30 October, 2016

Champions Cup

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Cajsa Wegner of Sweden and Jaroslav Lorenc from the host country Czech Republic earned the No. 1 seed for the women’s and men’s finals of the 39th European Champions Cup Sunday at Bowland Bowling Center in Olomouc.

Wegner (left) had an 891 series in the women’s Round of 8 on Sunday morning to beat out defending champion and qualifying leader Maria Bulanova (right) of Russia for the top spot by a single pin.

Wegner averaged 226.39 over 28 games and totaled 6339 pins to lead the top 4 women into the finals in best-of-three games format. Bulanova, who had a modest 855 series, finished in second place with 6338 (226.36).

Bulanova will take on Nicole Sanders (left) of the Netherlands in the semi-final round. Sanders was further 38 pins behind the Russian and maintained the third position with 6300 (225.00).

Nadine Geißler (right) of Germany overtook Solene Goron of France in the first game this morning (245-187) and added games of 244, 220 and 224 for the highest 933 series (233.25) and maintained a slim five-pin lead to edge Goron for the fourth and last place to advance, 6015 to 6010.

As the No. 4 seed, Geißler will bowl top-seeded Wegner in the semi-finals.

On the men’s side, qualifying leader Lorenc (left) rolled a solid 917 four-game block, an average of 229.25, to cruise to the No. 1 seed with 6693 total and an average of 239.04 for 24 games.

James Gruffman (right) of Sweden toppled 960 pins in the Round of 8 to narrow the gap to 67 pins and to stay in second place with 6626 (236.64). Antonino Fiorentino of Italy and Hadley Morgan of England posted the highest series in this block to secure their spots in the finals and to shut out defending champion Joonas Jähi of Finland.

Fiorentino (left) finished with 269 and 277 for 986 to earn the No. 3 seed with 6554 (234.07). Morgan (right) topped Fiorentino by six games with 992, including games of 238, 219, 258 and 277, to take fourth place with 6511 (232.54). Jähi (974) had to settle for fifth place with 6415.

The men’s and women’s semi-finals (No. 1 vs. No. 4 and No. 2 vs. No. 3) will start at 11.30 a.m., followed by the women’s final at 1 p.m. and the men’s final at 2.30 p.m.

The 39th European Champions Cup will take place from October 24-31 at 18-lane Bowland Bowling Center in Olomouc, Czech Republic featuring the men’s and women’s national champions or point ranking leaders of the European Tenpin Bowling Federation (ETBF) member federations.

Men and women compete in separate divisions. All players, including defending ECC champions, Maria Bulanova of Russia and Joonas Jähi of Finland, will roll two eight-game blocks of qualifying Wednesday through Friday on a 42 feet lane conditioning pattern.

The top 16 men and 16 women will carry over their qualifying pins into Round 1. After another eight games the top 8 will advance to Round 2. Pinfall will continue to carry over. Those 8 will bowl four more games to cut to the top 4 who will determine the champion in best-of-three games matches. In the semi-finals, No. 1 will meet No. 4 and No. 2 will take on No. 3.

Full European Champions Cup rules can be found in the ETBF Constitution (Chapter 7; pages 47 and 48). For more details on the 39th ECC 2016 read the Bulletin.

Photos Max Bulanov.

Jaroslav Lorenc pulls ahead of the men’s field at European Champions Cup
Maria Bulanova retains 35-pin lead after women’s Round 1 at ECC
Lorenc overtakes Gruffman to win men’s qualifying at ECC
Maria Bulanova leads top 16 women into Round 1
James Gruffman averages over 240 to lead men’s qualifying
Nicole Sanders sets the pace in women’s qualifying at European Champions Cup
39th European Champions Cup kicks off today in Olomouc, Czech Republic
Joonas Jähi, Maria Bulanova shoot big games to win 38th European Champions Cup

2016 ECC – Women’s Division after Round 2

Top 4 after 28 games advance to finals in best-of-three games format.

Pos	Player	Country	B/F	G25	G26	G27	G28	Pins	Avg.	Total	Avg.
1.	Cajsa Wegner	Sweden	5448	216	205	237	233	891	222.75	6339	226.39
2.	Maria Bulanova	Russia	5483	216	189	236	214	855	213.75	6338	226.36
3.	Nicole Sanders	Netherlands	5383	215	207	218	277	917	229.25	6300	225.00
4.	Nadine Gei0ler	Germany	5082	245	244	220	224	933	233.25	6015	214.82
5.	Solene Goron	France	5111	187	244	245	223	899	224.75	6010	214.64
6.	Petra Stankova	Slovakia	5038	198	185	239	235	857	214.25	5895	210.54
7.	Danni Hopcroft	England	5036	192	222	206	238	858	214.50	5894	210.50
8.	Heidi Thorstensen	Norway	5041	217	208	191	206	822	205.50	5863	209.39

2016 ECC – Men’s Division after Round 2

Top 4 after 28 games advance to finals in best-of-three games format.

Pos	Player	Country	B/F	G25	G26	G27	G28	Pins	Avg.	Total	Avg.
1.	Jaroslav Lorenc	Czech Republic	5776	213	212	235	257	917	229.25	6693	239.04
2.	James Gruffman	Sweden	5666	247	211	245	257	960	240.00	6626	236.64
3.	Antonino Fiorentino	Italy	5568	204	236	269	277	986	246.50	6554	234.07
4.	Hadley Morgan	England	5519	238	219	258	277	992	248.00	6511	232.54
5.	Joonas Jähi	Finland	5441	268	256	244	206	974	243.50	6415	229.11
6.	Valentyn Kucherenko	Ukraine	5498	199	196	267	168	830	207.50	6328	226.00
7.	Jesper Agerbo	Denmark	5404	226	265	196	222	909	227.25	6313	225.46
8.	Arnar David Jonsson	Iceland	5391	225	217	249	221	912	228.00	6303	225.11