Toni Palermaa shoots into the lead in Squad 6 at Brunswick Ballmaster Open

01/06/10

2010 European Bowling Tour #1

Cherie Tan, Parker Bohn III crack the top 10

2010EBT01ToniPalermaa.jpgToni Palermaa (pictured left) , younger brother of two-handed sensation Osku Palermaa, fired a 1454 six-game series Wednesday afternoon at Tali Bowling Center in Helsinki, Finland, en route to shoot into the lead in the Brunswick Ballmaster Open.

Palermaa started with back-to-back 220s and added high games of 225 and 226. 261 and 252 before he closed out his set with back-to-back 240s, an average of 242.33 over six games.

Palermaa overtook Matti Knutar, both Finland, who has led since the very first squad, which was reserved for under-24 bowlers, by 38 pins. Knutar slipped one spot to second place with 1416.

Squad 4 leader Veli-Matti Tissarinen sits in third place with 1388. According to the organizers, Tissarinen will not bowl in the finals as he has to take care of his four children next weekend.

2009DHCCherieTan.jpgSingapore women's national team member Cherie Tan (right) was second to Palermaa in Squad 6 en route to jump into fourth place in the overall qualifying standings. Tan had six games between 199 and 248 (221.83 avg.) and added including 48 pins handicap, a standard for women on the European Bowling Tour, for 1379 pinfall total.

Squad 2 leader Jesse Lindholm fell to fifth place with 1379 and is followed by Squad 3 leader Ville Häggman in 6th place with 1362.

Fellow Helsinki bowler Joonas Jähi followed in the footprints of Palermaa to move into 7th place overall with 1355. Mika Määttä, Finland, is 8th with 1352.

200910PBAParkerBohn.jpgPBA superstar Parker Bohn III (left) felled 1351 pins in his first attempt, which should be enough to make the first cut (top 44). The 32-time PBA champion, two-time PBA Player of the Year and PBA and USBC Hall of Famer cracked the top 10 and overtook 9th place.

Rounding out the top 10 is defending champion and 3-time Ballmaster Open winner Pasi Uotila with 1343.

2009EBT14OskuPalermaa.jpgOsku Palermaa (right), who won the European rankings for the third consecutive year in 2009, was fifth in Squad 6 with 1327, good for 17th place overall.

With 318 players in the books (registered are more than 500 players and over 1,000 entries), Teemu Asplund, Finland, is the "man on the bubble" in 44th place with 1273 and an average of 212.17.

2010BallmasterOpenBanner.jpg The 40th Brunswick Ballmaster Open will be held from Saturday, Jan. 2 through Sunday Jan. 10 at the 36-lane Tali Bowling Center in Helsinki, Finland. Pasi Uotila, Finland, is the defending champion. Norwegian Tore Torgersen was the last non-Finnish winner back in 1996.

About 500 players will compete for increased total prize money of 105.000 Euro or approximately 150.000 USD. The champion will walk away with the 15.000 Euro top prize. In addition the Ballmaster offers a 10.000 Euro extra prize for a 300-game.

Qualifying continues on Thursday, Jan. 7, with Squads 7 and 8 and runs through Saturday Jan. 9 with the final qualifying squad scheduled for 8pm. The ultimate one-game Desperado Squad will conclude the qualifying at 11.30pm. Women will receive 8 pins handicap each game.

Squad 1 was reserved youth bowlers, who must not have reached the age of 24 on Jan. 2, and Squad 5 was reserved for senior bowlers, who must have reached the age of 50 on Jan. 6.

A total of 48 players - the top 44 from the overall qualifying standings plus the top 4 from the Desperado Squad - will qualify for the finals on Sunday, Jan. 10. No byes are given in this tournament.

The finals will be contested in a format similar to the old PBA tournaments. All 48 finalists will bowl 8 games starting from scratch to cut to the top 16 who will advance to match play portion. Those 16 will bowl 15 games of round robin match play plus one game position round with the pinfall of Round 1 being carried forward to determine the top 4 players for the stepladder finals.

The No. 4 seed meets the No. 3 in the opening match and the winner takes on the No. 2 seed for the right to bowl the top seed for the title, the 15.000 Euro top prize and 250 ranking points. (Note: The winner of a Satellite tournament gets 50, the winner of a Silver tournament gets 100, and the winner of a Gold tournament gets 150 ranking points.)

 


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Brunswick Ballmaster Open - Qualifying Standings after Squad 6/15


The top 44 qualifiers plus the top 4 from the Desperado Squad will qualify for the finals on Sunday, Jan. 10.

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