Vienna Open tournament director Wolfgang Lohschmid has informed us that all 420 qualifying spots in the 5th Columbia 300 Vienna Open are booked. "The tournament is sold out," Lohschmid stated. "We have closed the online registration but the waiting lists are still open. All those who have waited too long to register can email us at office@viennaopen.com."

The VO is the 18th stop of the 2007 European Bowling Tour and one of the Tour's "Majors". The tournament will be held from October 16-21 at 32-laner Plus Bowling in Vienna, Austria.

The tournament has a total prize fund of 60.530 Euro - 50.300 € for Singles and 10.230 € for the Doubles event. The singles champion will receive the 7.000 € top prize while the doubles winners will split 1.600 €.

Impressions from the Vienna Open 2006.

More than 300 players from 26 countries, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Denmark, England, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Israel, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Sweden, Switzerland, Ukraine, United States of America and the host country Austria will participate in the fifth annual event.

Eight of the top 10 women in the European rankings including leader Kirsten Penny (left), England, and 3-time defending champion Britt Brøndsted (right), Denmark, will target for the maximum 100 ranking points. The others are Ghislaine van der Tol and Nicole Sanders, both Netherlands, Tina Hulsch, Germany and Brøndsted's compatriots Rikke Holm Rasmussen, Kamilla Kjeldsen and Mai Ginge Jensen.

However, this year's women's field is spearheaded by one the best women bowlers in our sport, Diandra Asbaty (left) from the United States.

The 10-time Team USA member and reigning World Cup champion, who has won her second World Ranking Masters title and her second World Championship Masters title earlier this year, has just won the women's division and the King of the Hill competition, worth USD 20,000, in the Panama Invitational last weekend.

On the men's side, ranking leaders Osku Palermaa (left), Finland, and Paul Moor (right), the 3-time defending champion from England, will miss the Vienna Open as the organizers of the Weber Cup (Europe vs. America) have scheduled the event once again for the same weekend.

Tomas Leandersson, team captain of the European team, has informed VO tournament director Wolfgang Lohschmid that he has nominated Palermaa, Moor, Tore Torgersen, and PBA star Mika Koivuniemi, Finland, to join him in the event.

2006 VO champion Wu Siu Hong (right) from Hong Kong is also unable to defend his title due to his commitments with the Hong Kong national team which is preparing for the Southeast Asian Games.

The men's field will be led by Europe's No. 3, Martin Larsen (left). If the Swede, who won the 4th EBT tournament, the Catalonia Open in Barcelona, in March wins his second "major" this season, he will narrow the gap to Palermaa and Moor to 87 and 27 points, respectively.

Larsen will be joined by Robert Andersson (right), currently the No. 6 in the rankings. The duo is not only the reigning world champion in Doubles but has also won the silver medal in doubles (they led after 12 games and lost gold due to the new format) at the 2007 European Championships at Plus Bowling in Vienna, and is the defending doubles champion after winning the discipline in 2006.

Reigning World Ranking Masters Stuart Williams (left), England, is always a major force to be reckoned with. Williams has won the EBT title in Malta this year and is the sole player on the EBT, who has cashed ranking points in each event thus far.

Other top 10 player scheduled to compete in Vienna are No. 9 Yoan Alix, France and No. 10 Leonidas Maragkos, Greece.

The tournament will celebrate its fifth anniversary with a big players' party at the famous "Gerstenboden" (barley loft), a traditional bar room in the Ottakringer beer brewery, on Sunday evening, October 21. Click on the image to enlarge it

Thomas 'Dynamite Harry' Tybl (left), coach and Austrian international, well known as the "party manager" of the Vienna Open, will serve as the Master of the Ceremonies from 19:00 until early Monday morning."

The tournament will start on Tuesday, October 16 at 7pm with a 9-pin no-tap tournament. The real action will commence Wednesday at noon with the first of fourteen qualifying squads. A total of 68 players will qualify for the finals on Sunday, October 21.

As every year, Bowlingdigital will cover the event live from Vienna with updates after each round and daily videos commencing October 17 all the way through to the finals on Sunday, October 21.