Thomas Gross (l.) from Austria improved on a second-place finish from last year when defeated
Svein Roger Olsen (r.), Norway, 2-1, to win the men's title in the 31st European Champions Cup. In the semifinals, Olsen upset top seeded
Sami Konsteri, Finland, 2-0, while Gross made quick work of Swede
Mathias Årup, 2-0. Konsteri and Årup shared the bronze medal. The top 8 countries, Austria, Finland, England, Germany, Belgium, France, Norway and Netherlands qualified for
2009 World Games in Kaohsiung, Chinese Taipei.
Ahmet Recep Tekcan, President of the Turkish Bowling Federation, and Sinem Aydın Devrim, CEO of the host Rollhouse Bowling Center, have released the first and final bulletin for the 2010 European Champions Cup to be held in Ankara, Turkey from Oct. 25-31, 2010. The 2010 ECC will be staged at 24-lane Rollhouse Bowling Center, host of the Ankara Open, a European Bowling Tour Gold tournament (Sept. 18-26, 2010). Entry deadline is June 15, 2010.
Giannis Stathatos, from the host country Greece and England's Kirsten Penny
captured the men' and women's title in the 32nd European Champions Cup
Sunday at Mega Place Bowling Club in Chania, Crete, Greece. Penny swept top seeded Ann Louise Haugen Andersen, Norway, in the title match, two-games-to-none. Stathatos went the distance against
Germany's Michael Krämer and emerged victorious, two-games-to-one.
Martin Larsen (l.), Sweden, rolled an 1871 series in the final block on dual lane condition to lead the top 8 men into the
finals in the 32nd European Champions Cup at Mega Place Bowling Club in Chania, Crete, Greece.
Larsen totaled 5534 pins and averaged 230.58 over 24 games to lead Austria's Alexander Rauscher (r.) by 59 pins. The top 8 men will return on Sunday morning for the quarterfinals in single-elimination final in best-of-three games format.
Ann Louise Haugen Andersen (l.), Norway, rolled a 1731 series in the third and final 8-game block on dual lane condition (one lane with short oil, one lane with long oil) to earn the No. 1 seed for the single-elimination finals in the women's European Champions Cup. Haugen will bowl Ivonne Gross (r.), Austria, who beat out defending champion Zara Glover, England,
for the 8th and final spot to
advance by three pins.
Ann Louise Haugen Andersen (pictured), Norway, who led the women's division of the 32nd European Champions Cup after the first block on short oil, widened her lead in the second block on long oil Thursday afternoon. The Norwegian added an 1820 series to the 1888 from yesterday to lead the field of 37 players with 3708 and an average of 231.75 for 16 games. The women will bowl the third and final block on dual lane condition on Friday evening and Saturday morning before the cut to the top 8 for single-elimination match play.
Ann Louise Haugen Andersen (l.), Norway, had an 1888 8-game series on the opening day of the 32nd European Champions Cup to set the pace in the women's division at Mega Place Bowling Club in Chania, Crete, Greece. The Norwegian champion rolled eight games between 201 and 268 to lead the field of 37 women from 36 countries with an average of 236.00. Trailing the Norwegian by mere three pins is Sara Mizrahi (r.), Israel. 
No. 1 seeded Zara Glover (left) from England, won the women's title in 31st European Champions Cup at Treff Bowling in Duisburg, Germany, in two straight games against Krista Pöllänen (right), Finland, two-games-to-none. In the semis, Glover went the distance to win against Germany's Patricia Luoto, 2-1, while Pöllänen came back from an opening game loss to beat Ivonne Gross, Austria, 2-0. Luoto and Gross hared the bronze medal. 
Sami Konsteri (l.), Finland, finished the 24-game preliminaries in the Men's European Champions Cup in Duisburg, Germany, with a 269 game to lead the top 8 men into the single-elimination best-of-three game finals on Saturday. Konsteri felled 1808 pins in the third and final 8-game block on dual lane condition (one lane with short, the other with long oil) and a 5403 24-game total, an average of 225.13, to beat out Dominic Barrett (r.), England for the No. 1 seed by mere four pins. 
Overnight leader Zara Glover (left) posted the second-highest 8-game block on the mixed lane condition (left lane with short oil, right lane with long oil) on the third and final day of the preliminaries en route to lead the top 8 women into the finals of the 31st European Champions Cup at Treff Bowling in Duisburg, Germany. Glover averaged 217.38 on Friday and felled 1739 pins to win the qualifying with 5334 and an overall average of 222.25. The top 8 players after the preliminaries qualified for the single-elimination final in best-of-three games format.Glover will meet No. 8 Olga Tarasove, Ukraine in the quarterfinals on Saturday morning. 
Marieke de Jong from the Netherlands averaged 224.63 on the short oil pattern en route to overtake the lead in the Women's European Champions Cup after Block One on Wednesday morning at Treff Bowling in Duisburg, Germany. De Jong used high games of 246 and 248 to lead the field of 39 women from 39 European Tenpin Bowling Federation member federations after the first of three blocks with 1797 pinfall total. Zara Glover, England was close behind to finish in second place with 1785. Isabelle Sacco, France was the third player, who reached the 1700-mark, with 1701.The 39 women will return on Thursday for the second block on long oil. 
The 31st European Champions Cup will be held at Achim Grabowski's Treff Bowling in Duisburg, Germany, Oct. 20-26, 2008. Real action starts on Wednesday, Oct. 22nd with the men's and women's finals scheduled for Saturday, Oct. 25 at 1 and 2.15 pm, respectively. 41 countries have announced to participate. Bowlingdigital will cover the event live from Treff Bowling in Duisburg commencing Wednesday Oct. 22. 
Ingunn Øien, Norway and Marco Reviglio, Italy won the women's and men's titles in the 30th European Champions Cup sponsored by Ebonite. Both players led the field from 40 countries after 24 games qualifying to earn the No. 1 seed for the 8-player match play finals in best-of-three games format. Øien (pictured with coach Pepe Engström) swept Therese Forsell, Sweden, and Reviglio swept Thomas Gross, Austria, 2-0, in the title matches. 
No. 2 seed Or Aviram (left) from Israel came back from being down 1-0 to defeat No. 1 seed Mads Sandbækken, two games-to-one en route to win the men's title in the European Champions Cup at Zelta Bowling Center in Riga. Sixth-seeded Annika Kilander (right) from Sweden swept Norway's Heidi Thorstensen, seeded fourth, two-games-to-none, to claim the women's title.