Lehtonen wins penultimate squad, but Ovchinnikovs steals the show by rolling the fifth 300 game
03/18/07
Kimmo Lehtonen from Finland won the 26th and penultimate qualifying squad in the Brunswick Euro Challenge at Strike Bowling Club in Thessaloniki, Greece.
The Finnish lefty, who had 1193 after five games including a high game of 277, was targeting to overtake the Qualifying lead from team mate Osku Palermaa, but finished with a disappointing 180 game.
The 2005 World Ranking Masters champion, who is the organizer and this year's winner of the prestigious Ballmaster Open in Helsinki, improved his score by 25 pins but missed his main target, to crack the top 16, by four pins. With the final squad to go, Lehtonen is in 17th place with 1173.
Nikolay Ovchinnikov, Latvia, stole the show when he closed out his set with the fifth perfect game of the tournament.
The picture shows the pin action right after Ovchinnikov's ball has hit the pocket for the 12th strike.
Ovchinnikovs, one of mere three players who have cashed ranking points in all four EBT events thus far (Paul Moor and Stuart Williams are the others), was 44 over after five game and propelled himself into 29thth place in the qualifying standings due to his perfecto.
Lehtonen's compatriot Petri Mannonen, the 2005 European Masters champion was two pins better to move into 28th place with 1346.
Others in this squad who cracked the top 52 were George Venetis, Greece (34th, 1336), Joonas Jehkinen (37th, 1330) and Jari Ratia (41st, 1322 including a 295 - left the 1-2--4-7-10 washout), both of Finland, and Kim Bolleby, Sweden (49th, 1300).
Osku Palermaa (left), Finland, continued to lead the qualifying with 1430 six-game total and an average of 238.33. 3-time defending European ranking champions, Paul Moor, England, and Britt Bröndsted, Denmark sit in second and third with 1428 and 1406, resp. Rounding out the top 5 are Finns Reija Lunden and Mika Luoto with 1404 and 1399.
With 316 from 32 countries in the books, the cutoff number for 16th place remained 1376 (Stuart Williams, England) and improved to 1295 for 52nd place (Habib Dogan, Turkey).
Qualifying ends with the 27th and final qualifying squad immediately followed by the Desperado Squad, the ultimate one-game chance to qualify for the finals on Sunday, March 18.
Bowlingdigital covers the event live from Thessaloniki all the way through to the TV finals on Sunday.
The BEC is the fifth stop of the 2007 European Bowling Tour and one of the Tour's "Majors". Since the cancellation of the Viernheim Open, the Brunswick Euro Challenge is the richest event on the 2007 European Bowling Tour.
The total prize fund for the Open Division, Women and B-Bowlers plus special prizes is 90.000 Euro (approx. US$116,600). The Open Division champion will pocket 16.000 €.
A total of 64 players will qualify for the finals on Sunday, March 18:
The top 16 qualifying leaders will bypass the first round. The other 48 finalists roll six games starting from scratch. The top 16 will join the 16 qualifying leaders in the best-of-three games single elimination finals. The highest ranked player will bowl the lowest seed, etc.
The rounds of 32, 16 and 8 trim the field from 16, to eight, then to four. The remaining four players will be seeded 1 to 4 for the stepladder finals to determine the champion in three one-game matches: No. 4 vs. No. 3, winner vs. No. 2, winner vs. No. 1.
Squad 26 Results
Qualifying Standings
Latest Results
2007 European Bowling Tour #5
Strike Bowling Club in Thessaloniki, Greece (March 9-18, 2007)
Kimmo Lehtonen from Finland won the 26th and penultimate qualifying squad in the Brunswick Euro Challenge at Strike Bowling Club in Thessaloniki, Greece. The Finnish lefty, who had 1193 after five games including a high game of 277, was targeting to overtake the Qualifying lead from team mate Osku Palermaa, but finished with a disappointing 180 game.
The 2005 World Ranking Masters champion, who is the organizer and this year's winner of the prestigious Ballmaster Open in Helsinki, improved his score by 25 pins but missed his main target, to crack the top 16, by four pins. With the final squad to go, Lehtonen is in 17th place with 1173.
Nikolay Ovchinnikov, Latvia, stole the show when he closed out his set with the fifth perfect game of the tournament. The picture shows the pin action right after Ovchinnikov's ball has hit the pocket for the 12th strike.
Ovchinnikovs, one of mere three players who have cashed ranking points in all four EBT events thus far (Paul Moor and Stuart Williams are the others), was 44 over after five game and propelled himself into 29thth place in the qualifying standings due to his perfecto.
Lehtonen's compatriot Petri Mannonen, the 2005 European Masters champion was two pins better to move into 28th place with 1346.
Others in this squad who cracked the top 52 were George Venetis, Greece (34th, 1336), Joonas Jehkinen (37th, 1330) and Jari Ratia (41st, 1322 including a 295 - left the 1-2--4-7-10 washout), both of Finland, and Kim Bolleby, Sweden (49th, 1300).
Osku Palermaa (left), Finland, continued to lead the qualifying with 1430 six-game total and an average of 238.33. 3-time defending European ranking champions, Paul Moor, England, and Britt Bröndsted, Denmark sit in second and third with 1428 and 1406, resp. Rounding out the top 5 are Finns Reija Lunden and Mika Luoto with 1404 and 1399. With 316 from 32 countries in the books, the cutoff number for 16th place remained 1376 (Stuart Williams, England) and improved to 1295 for 52nd place (Habib Dogan, Turkey).
Qualifying ends with the 27th and final qualifying squad immediately followed by the Desperado Squad, the ultimate one-game chance to qualify for the finals on Sunday, March 18.
Bowlingdigital covers the event live from Thessaloniki all the way through to the TV finals on Sunday.
The BEC is the fifth stop of the 2007 European Bowling Tour and one of the Tour's "Majors". Since the cancellation of the Viernheim Open, the Brunswick Euro Challenge is the richest event on the 2007 European Bowling Tour.
The total prize fund for the Open Division, Women and B-Bowlers plus special prizes is 90.000 Euro (approx. US$116,600). The Open Division champion will pocket 16.000 €.
A total of 64 players will qualify for the finals on Sunday, March 18:
- Top 52 from the qualifying
- Top 6 from the qualifying squads conducted March 9-11 not among those 52
- Top 6 from the Desperado Squad.
The top 16 qualifying leaders will bypass the first round. The other 48 finalists roll six games starting from scratch. The top 16 will join the 16 qualifying leaders in the best-of-three games single elimination finals. The highest ranked player will bowl the lowest seed, etc.
The rounds of 32, 16 and 8 trim the field from 16, to eight, then to four. The remaining four players will be seeded 1 to 4 for the stepladder finals to determine the champion in three one-game matches: No. 4 vs. No. 3, winner vs. No. 2, winner vs. No. 1.
Squad 26 Results
Qualifying Standings
Latest Results