Wu Siu Hong tops qualifying in 4th Vienna Open
10/22/06
Wu Siu Hong (left) proved once again that he is one of the best bowlers in Asia and finished the qualifying in the 4th Vienna Open powered by Columbia 300 atop the leaderboard. The righthander from Hong Kong, a two-time Asian ranking champion, had a 1481 six-game series and an average of 246.83.
Michael Mayer (right) from Salzburg, Austria, stunned the crowd in the 14th and final qualifying squad Saturday evening when he totaled 1453 pins (242.17) to jump into second place. Mayer had games of 224, 207, 244, 242, 267 and 269.
The feat came on the expense of American Andrew Cain (left), who fell to third with 1438. Defending champion Osku Palermaa, Finland was fourth with 1430. Swede Martin Larsen was one pin behind in fifth place, 1429, with Germany's Achim Grabowski in sixth at 1415 and Robert Andersson, Sweden, seventh at 1408.
The eighth spot was decided in the final game. Local Favorite Thomas Gross (right) and Mathieu Berges from Switzerland were deadlocked at 1400 and Gross was seeded eighth due to the higher last game (258-188). The top 8 earned one bye and will be seeded 1-8 in the match play Round of 32.
Players positioned 9-56 after qualifying and the leaders of Squad 1 through 6 not among the top 56 and the top 6 from the Desperado Squad will bowl 6 games starting from scratch on Sunday morning 8am to cut to the top 24, who will meet the top 8 in the Round of 32. Jimmy Mortensen from Denmark was the "cut man" with 1304 and the higher last game compared to Peter Ljung, Sweden (231-189).
Ljung (left) was one of the six players that advanced as one of the squad leaders (Squad 6 - 1304). Others were Dan Sallai, Hungary (Sq1 - 1251), Gyorgy Bodis, Hungary (Sq2 - 1281), Gerhard Traun, Austria (Sq3 - 1299), Stefan Claessen, Iceland ((Sq4 1296) and Gerhard Fleischhacker, Austria (Sq5 - 1247).
The qualifying for the Vienna Open finals was contested as a doubles tournament. All players rolled six-game blocks and no finals were played. A bowler could only cash once with the same partner. Unlimited re-entries with different partners were possible.
The winners of the Doubles event in the 4th Vienna Open powered by Columbia 300 were the reigning World Champions in Doubles, Robert Andersson and Martin Larsen. The Swedes totaled 2814 pins and averaged 234,50 for six team games to split the 1.600 Euro top prize (approx. $2,002).
L-R Mayer, Mattsson, Andersson, Larsen, Gross and Grabowski. Picture Lars Müller.
Trailing the Swedes by 29 pins to land in second place were Thomas Gross and Achim Grabowski with 2785, worth 1.200 Euro. Michael Mayer, the shooting star of Squad 14, teamed with Anna Mattsson-Baard in the Doubles. The Swedish international missed the cut by 13 pins but her 1291 total including 48 pins handicap helped the duo to grab the third place with 2744, worth 1.000 Euro. The top 20 doubles cashed.
The qualifying at Plus Bowling ended with a bang. Stefan Schmid (pictured left) from Austria fired the first perfect game of the tournament to win the 'Desperado Squad' and to book his spot in the finals. Matsson-Baard nearly beat his score with her eight pins handicap but fell one strike short to land in second place with 294.
Joining those two in the finals were Robert Wölki, Germany (279), Stuart Williams, England (255), David Kodmon, Hungary (245) and Rikke Holm-Rasmussen, Denmark (244 incl. hc).
A total of 68 players advanced to the finals starting on Sunday morning at 8am. All but the top 8 qualifiers will bowl 6 games from scratch to cut to the top 24. Those 24 will be seeded 9-32 in the play Round of 32.
Match Play Rounds of 32, 16 and 8 are in a best-of-three games format, highest seeded player vs. the lowest seeded player, the second-highest seeded player vs. the second-lowest seeded player, etc.
The semi-finals and the championship match will be decided in one game. The Vienna Open champion will receive the 7.000 Euro top prize (approx. $8,758).
As every year, lane maintenance is done by Kegel, the official lane maintenance partner of the European Tenpin Bowling Federation. 2005 USBC Open Singles and All Events Champion John Janawicz is the Kegel lane man in Vienna for the third consecutive year.
Singles Results
Doubles Results
European Bowling Tour #18
Andersson/Larsen win Doubles event; Schmid shoots 300 in Desperado Squad
Wu Siu Hong (left) proved once again that he is one of the best bowlers in Asia and finished the qualifying in the 4th Vienna Open powered by Columbia 300 atop the leaderboard. The righthander from Hong Kong, a two-time Asian ranking champion, had a 1481 six-game series and an average of 246.83. Michael Mayer (right) from Salzburg, Austria, stunned the crowd in the 14th and final qualifying squad Saturday evening when he totaled 1453 pins (242.17) to jump into second place. Mayer had games of 224, 207, 244, 242, 267 and 269. The feat came on the expense of American Andrew Cain (left), who fell to third with 1438. Defending champion Osku Palermaa, Finland was fourth with 1430. Swede Martin Larsen was one pin behind in fifth place, 1429, with Germany's Achim Grabowski in sixth at 1415 and Robert Andersson, Sweden, seventh at 1408. The eighth spot was decided in the final game. Local Favorite Thomas Gross (right) and Mathieu Berges from Switzerland were deadlocked at 1400 and Gross was seeded eighth due to the higher last game (258-188). The top 8 earned one bye and will be seeded 1-8 in the match play Round of 32. Players positioned 9-56 after qualifying and the leaders of Squad 1 through 6 not among the top 56 and the top 6 from the Desperado Squad will bowl 6 games starting from scratch on Sunday morning 8am to cut to the top 24, who will meet the top 8 in the Round of 32. Jimmy Mortensen from Denmark was the "cut man" with 1304 and the higher last game compared to Peter Ljung, Sweden (231-189).
Ljung (left) was one of the six players that advanced as one of the squad leaders (Squad 6 - 1304). Others were Dan Sallai, Hungary (Sq1 - 1251), Gyorgy Bodis, Hungary (Sq2 - 1281), Gerhard Traun, Austria (Sq3 - 1299), Stefan Claessen, Iceland ((Sq4 1296) and Gerhard Fleischhacker, Austria (Sq5 - 1247). The qualifying for the Vienna Open finals was contested as a doubles tournament. All players rolled six-game blocks and no finals were played. A bowler could only cash once with the same partner. Unlimited re-entries with different partners were possible.
The winners of the Doubles event in the 4th Vienna Open powered by Columbia 300 were the reigning World Champions in Doubles, Robert Andersson and Martin Larsen. The Swedes totaled 2814 pins and averaged 234,50 for six team games to split the 1.600 Euro top prize (approx. $2,002). L-R Mayer, Mattsson, Andersson, Larsen, Gross and Grabowski. Picture Lars Müller.
Trailing the Swedes by 29 pins to land in second place were Thomas Gross and Achim Grabowski with 2785, worth 1.200 Euro. Michael Mayer, the shooting star of Squad 14, teamed with Anna Mattsson-Baard in the Doubles. The Swedish international missed the cut by 13 pins but her 1291 total including 48 pins handicap helped the duo to grab the third place with 2744, worth 1.000 Euro. The top 20 doubles cashed.
The qualifying at Plus Bowling ended with a bang. Stefan Schmid (pictured left) from Austria fired the first perfect game of the tournament to win the 'Desperado Squad' and to book his spot in the finals. Matsson-Baard nearly beat his score with her eight pins handicap but fell one strike short to land in second place with 294. Joining those two in the finals were Robert Wölki, Germany (279), Stuart Williams, England (255), David Kodmon, Hungary (245) and Rikke Holm-Rasmussen, Denmark (244 incl. hc).
A total of 68 players advanced to the finals starting on Sunday morning at 8am. All but the top 8 qualifiers will bowl 6 games from scratch to cut to the top 24. Those 24 will be seeded 9-32 in the play Round of 32.
Match Play Rounds of 32, 16 and 8 are in a best-of-three games format, highest seeded player vs. the lowest seeded player, the second-highest seeded player vs. the second-lowest seeded player, etc.
The semi-finals and the championship match will be decided in one game. The Vienna Open champion will receive the 7.000 Euro top prize (approx. $8,758).
As every year, lane maintenance is done by Kegel, the official lane maintenance partner of the European Tenpin Bowling Federation. 2005 USBC Open Singles and All Events Champion John Janawicz is the Kegel lane man in Vienna for the third consecutive year.
Singles Results
Doubles Results