The title match of the inaugural Storm English Open at Lakeside Superbowl in Nuneaton, England was an all-English affair. Qualifying leader and No. 1 seed Stuart Williams (pictured) rolled two big games to defeat equally strong Robert Kendall, the No. 7 seed, in the best-of-three games finals, two-games-to-none. Photo: Andy James.

The reigning World Ranking Masters champion won the first match 243-234 and sealed the victory with 242-233 win in match #2. Williams pocketed 4.000 English Pounds (approx. 5.555 Euro) for his second EBT title in 2007 (the first came in Malta), while Kendall received 2.000 English Pounds.

Isabelle Saldjian, France, won her second consecutive women's ranking title.

Stuart Williams (pictured left), England, remained unchallenged on the fourth and final qualifying day in the Storm English Open at Lakeside Superbowl in Nuneaton, England. The reigning World Ranking Masters champion led the 164-player field with 1449 six-game total and an average of 214.50.

Wu Siu Hong (right), Hong Kong, rolled two 250s and three 240s in Squad 14/16 to help grab the second place. The two-time Asian ranking champion, who has won an EBT title in the 2006 Vienna Open, chalked up 1441 pins. Williams and Siu Hong earned four byes and will be seeded into the quarterfinals. Photo: Andy James.

Kirsten Penny, (left) the 2007 European women's rankings champion, and 3-time European men ranking champion (2004-2006) and this year's runner-up Paul Moor, both England, qualified in third and fourth place with 1406 (including 48 pins handicap) and 1400, respectively.

24-time PBA champion and PBA Hall of Famer Brian Voss was fifth with 1398. Dominic Barrett (right) landed in sixth place with 1396. As the players ranked 3rd to 6th earned three byes Barrett will earn enough ranking points to secure a spot for the 2008 World Ranking Masters in Jakarta, Indonesia.

Rounding out the top 10 were 7. Robert Kendall, England, 1393 8. Luke Hampshaw, England, 1382 9. Ghislaine van der Tol (left), Netherlands, 1382 and 10. Zara Glover, England, 1381.

Diana Zavjalova (right), Latvia, hit the cutoff number for 44th place with 1288. Daniel Stride, Paul Stott, Adam Michaels, Ian Hollands, Philip Kargotis, all England, and Xavier Lotthe, France had games between 235 and 263 to advance to the finals through the single-game Desperado Squad.

A total of 50 players, the top 44 players from the qualifying plus the top 6 Desperados advanced to the finals on Sunday, December 9. The top 10 qualifying leaders will automatically be seeded into the single-elimination best-of-three match play portion and depending on the qualifying position can earn up to four byes.

The qualifying winner and the runner-up will bypass the first four rounds and will be seeded into the Round of 8, which means they cannot fall lower than fifth and sixth, respectively. Players ranked 3rd to 6th in qualifying will advance to the Round of 16, while players ranked 7th to 10th will be seeded into the Round of 32.

The other 40 players (players seeded 11th to 46 and the four Desperados) will play 6 games starting from scratch on Sunday morning. The top 24 will continue will play another 3 games with the pinfall from the first round being carried forward.

The top 12 will advance to the single-elimination finals. All rounds including the title match are best-of-three games single elimination with highest seeded player meeting the lowest seeded player, etc.

The top 10 qualifying leaders will be seeded 1-10, while the 12 survivors from final rounds 1 and 2 will be seeded 11-22.

The two remaining players will bowl for the title and the 4.000 English Pounds (approx. 5.555 Euro) and 50 ranking points.

The Storm English Open is an EBT Challenger tournament. Originally scheduled to be the 20th and penultimate ranking event on the 2007 European Bowling Tour, the EBT newcomer has become the 18th and final event of this year's Tour after the cancellation of the Danish Masters (Denmark), the Viernheim Open (Germany) and the Kungsbacka International (Sweden).

World Ranking Masters champion Stuart Williams (pictured left) held on to the lead in Storm English Open at Lakeside Superbowl in Nuneaton, England, after Day 3 qualifying.

Williams leads the 130-player field with since squad 8 with 1449 six-game total and an average of 214.50.

Kirsten Penny (right), both England, the 2007 European women's rankings champion, remained in second place with 1406 including the 48 pins women's handicap.

Third place belongs to 24-time PBA champion and PBA Hall of Famer Brian Voss (left), who chalked up 1398 pins. Dominic Barrett, who is the sole player who can still crack the top 8 in the European men's rankings to earn a berth into the 2008 World Ranking Masters in Jakarta, Indonesia, is fourth with 1396.

Day 1 leader Luke Hampshaw, both England, slipped to fifth with 1382. Tina Hulsch (right), Germany, bronze medalist in the QubicaAMF World Cup in Russia last month, is sixth with 1366, while Jo Allsebrook, who represented England at the World Cup, is seventh with 1338.

Rounding out the top 10 are Mark Wells, England, Hong Kong's Wu Siu Hong (left) and Dane Jesper Agerbo, who are tied at 1336 and seeded 8th through 10th according to the higher last game, 246-237-221.

Qualifying continues on Saturday with four squads and ends on Saturday evening at 11.30 p.m. local time with the Desperado Squad. A total of 50 players, the top 46 players from the qualifying plus the top 4 Desperados, will make it to the finals on Sunday, December 9.

The top 10 qualifying leaders will automatically be seeded into the single-elimination best-of-three match play portion and depending on the qualifying position can earn up to four byes.

The qualifying winner and the runner-up will bypass the first four rounds and will be seeded into the Round of 8, which means they cannot fall lower than fifth and sixth, respectively. Players ranked 3rd to 6th in qualifying will advance to the Round of 16, while players ranked 7th to 10th will be seeded into the Round of 32.

The other 40 players (players seeded 11th to 46 and the four Desperados) will play 6 games starting from scratch on Sunday morning. The top 24 will continue will play another 3 games with the pinfall from the first round being carried forward.

The top 12 will advance to the single-elimination finals. All rounds including the title match are best-of-three games single elimination with highest seeded player meeting the lowest seeded player, etc.

The top 10 qualifying leaders will be seeded 1-10, while the 12 survivors from final rounds 1 and 2 will be seeded 11-22.

The two remaining players will bowl for the title and the 4.000 English Pounds (approx. 5.555 Euro) and 50 ranking points.

The Storm English Open is an EBT Challenger tournament. Originally scheduled to be the 20th and penultimate ranking event on the 2007 European Bowling Tour, the EBT newcomer has become the 18th and final event of this year's Tour after the cancellation of the Danish Masters (Denmark), the Viernheim Open (Germany) and the Kungsbacka International (Sweden).

World Ranking Masters champion Stuart Williams fired games of 213, 268, 211, 258, 264 and 235 to overtake the lead in the Storm English Open in qualifying squad 8 with 1449 six-game total and an average of 214.50.

Kirsten Penny, who has already sealed the victory in this year's European women's rankings, is second with 1406 including the 48 pins women's handicap. Day one leader Luke Hampshaw, all from England, slipped to third place with 1382 pinfall total.

Williams (on the left) was presented with a prize of £200 for the highest series on Thursday, the prize being sponsored by Lakeside Superbowl and being presented by Andy Seymour, representing Lakeside.

Fourth place belongs to Dominic Barrett (pictured right), England, with 1346. The two-time English ranking champion (the English Open is also the final event of the 2007 Brunswick Team England rankings), who has won the last EBT event in Italy, is the sole player who can still crack the top 8 in the European men's rankings to earn a berth into the 2008 World Ranking Masters in Jakarta, Indonesia.

Barrett is currently 9th in the European rankings with 276 points. He is trailing Kimmo Lehtonen, Finland, who is the man on the bubble in 8th place with 284 points, by 8 points. 7th placed Yoan Alix, France, currently in 11th place in the English Open, has 323 points.

The top six players, 1. Osku Palermaa, Finland, 2. Paul Moor, England, 3. Martin Larsen, Sweden, 4. Robert Andersson, Sweden, 5. Stuart Williams, England, and 6. Pasi Uotila, Finland, have already secured their spots for Jakarta.

Alix, Lehtonen, Barrett and 10th placed Jouni Helminen, Finland, could battle it out for the two reaming spots. However, as neither Lehtonen, who had a leg operation last months, nor Helminen, who will take a break from the tour since he's the co-owner of a 20-lane bowling center in Lahti which re-opened in October, will compete in the English Open, Alix is safe and Barrett needs nine points to beat out Lehtonen for the final spot, which means he must finish among the top 20 in England.

According to our own calculation and interpretation of the extensive EBT rules, Barrett would even book his spot for Jakarta if he ties Lehtonen as he has the "higher number of maximum points awarded in all tournaments". This means he must earn eight ranking points which is equivalent to a 25th place.

Qualifying continues on Friday and Saturday with four squads each and ends on Saturday evening at 11.30 p.m. local time with the Desperado Squad. A total of 50 players, the top 46 players from the qualifying plus the top 4 Desperados, will make it to the finals on Sunday, December 9.

The top 10 qualifying leaders will automatically be seeded into the single-elimination best-of-three match play portion and depending on the qualifying position can earn up to four byes.

The qualifying winner and the runner-up will bypass the first four rounds and will be seeded into the Round of 8, which means they cannot fall lower than fifth and sixth, respectively. Players ranked 3rd to 6th in qualifying will advance to the Round of 16, while players ranked 7th to 10th will be seeded into the Round of 32.

The other 40 players (players seeded 11th to 46 and the four Desperados) will play 6 games starting from scratch on Sunday morning. The top 24 will continue will play another 3 games with the pinfall from the first round being carried forward.

The top 12 will advance to the single-elimination finals. All rounds including the title match are best-of-three games single elimination with highest seeded player meeting the lowest seeded player, etc.

The top 10 qualifying leaders will be seeded 1-10, while the 12 survivors from final rounds 1 and 2 will be seeded 11-22.

The two remaining players will bowl for the title and the 4.000 English Pounds (approx. 5.555 Euro) and 50 ranking points.

The Storm English Open is an EBT Challenger tournament. Originally scheduled to be the 20th and penultimate ranking event on the 2007 European Bowling Tour, the EBT newcomer has become the 18th and final event of this year's Tour after the cancellation of the Danish Masters (Denmark), the Viernheim Open (Germany) and the Kungsbacka International (Sweden).

Originally scheduled to be the 20th and penultimate ranking event on the 2007 European Bowling Tour, the Storm English Open at Lakeside Superbowl in Nuneaton, England, has become the 18th and final event of this year's Tour after the cancellation of the Danish Masters, the Viernheim Open and the Kungsbacka Int'l. Luke Hampshaw, England, leads the qualifying field after four squads with 1382 six-game total. Hong Kong's Wu Siu Hong is a distant second at 1289, with Darren Cundy, England in third, 1284, and Dutch Robert Peeters fourth, 1280. Nikki Harvey, England, is the top-ranked woman in fifth place with 1276 including 48 pins handicap.