Mike Fagan wins qualifying in Brunswick Ballmaster Open

01/10/10

2010 European Bowling Tour #1

Joonas Maunula shoots 300 in Desperado Squad; low to cash is 1349 (224.83)

2010EBT01MikeFagan.jpg2010EBT01MikaKoivuniemi.jpgPBA champion and two-time EBT winner Mike Fagan, United States, won finished the qualifying of the Brunswick Ballmaster Open atop the 506-player leaderboard with 1572 pinfall total and an average of 262 over six games.

Martin Larsen, Sweden, in second place with 1505, was the only other player who reached the 1500-plateau. The next 11 players including PBA super star Mika Koivuniemi and 3-time defending European ranking champion Osku Palermaa, both Finland, cracked the 1400-bar.

Players from 14th through 103rd place chalked up scores between 1399 and 1301. 4-time European ranking winner Gery Verbruggen (below right), Belgium, took the 44th and final spot to advance with 1349 (224.83).

2010EBT01JoonasMaunula.jpg2010EBT01GeryVerbruggen.jpgThe top 44 players will be joined in the finals by the top 4 players from the one-game Desperado Squad. Joonas Maunula (left) finished qualifying with a bang when he fired the third 300 game of the tournament in the Desperado Squad. Also advancing were Joonas Jehkinen (258), Kai Virtanen (246) and Magnus Lönnroth (245), all from Finland.

Among the 48 finalists are five women. Singapore national team member Cherie Tan was the best woman in qualifying in 23rd place with 1379 total including 48 pins handicap, a standard for women on the European Bowling Tour.

World Youth champion Tina Hulsch, Germany was 29th with 1366, followed by Joline Persson Planefors, Sweden (1364), Mari Kalliokoski (1362) and Nina Manninen (1358), both Finland.

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.

Record 507 players 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 ended Saturday Jan. 9 after 15 qualifying squads and the ultimate one-game Desperado Squad. Women 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 - qualified 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 - Standings after Qualifying


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


300 games - (3) Karl Wahlgren, Sweden; Mike Koivuniemi, Finland; Joonas Maunula, Finland.

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