The 11th Columbia 300 Vienna Open is the 15th tournament of the 2013 European Bowling Tour season as well as the 13th event on the 2013 World Bowling Tour. The EBT "gold" tournament will run from Sept. 30 - Oct. 6, 2013 at Plus Bowling in Vienna, Austria, and offers total prize fund of 75.130 Euro and a PBA international title if won by a PBA member. For the 11th year in a row, Bowlingdigital will cover the Columbia 300 Vienna Open live from Plus Bowling in Vienna commencing Wednesday, Oct. 2 all the way through to the stepladder finals Sunday afternoon, Oct. 6.
The preliminary schedule of the 2014 European Bowling Tour is out. Heading into its 15th season the EBT will consist of 21 tournaments in 14 countries. The Tour features two Platinum events, the Brunswick Euro Challenge and the Qatar Bowling Open, six Gold, four Silver and nine Satellite events. The total prize fund exceeds one million Euro. The 2014 EBT kicks off with the Brunswick Ballmaster Open Jan. 3-12 at Tali Bowling Center in Helsinki, Finland.
Marianne Pelz of Germany and Italy's Luciano Lambertini (pictured left, r-l) took the women's and men's title at the Italian Senior Open, the fifth stop on the 2013 International Seniors Bowling Tour, which was held at Reno Bowling in Bologna, Italy, from June 1-9, 2013. Gisela Insinger of Germany and Ron Oldfield of England walked away the winners of the ISBT Masters for the 2012 season, which was held in conjunction with the ISO at the same time.
Online registration for the Norwegian Open 2013 by Brunswick, an EBT "Satellite" event, is now open. The tournament will be held from Oct. 4-13 at Veitvet Bowling Center in Oslo. As a result of a sponsorship agreement with Brunswick, the NO 2013 has increased the total prize fund to 224.000 NOK (currently 29.425 Euro). Other than in 2012, 60 instead of 40 players will cash. Bowlingdigital.com will provide Live Coverage commencing Thursday Oct. 10 all the way through to the finals.
After 17 games in the finals of the Odense International, Danish national team members Mik Stampe (c.) and Thomas Larsen (l.) were deadlocked at 4056 pins including match play bonus. Stampe repeated as champion for the second time after 2011 by virtue of the higher last game (246 to 212) to win the title and the 4.000 Euro first prize. Frederik Øhrgaard (r.) was mere 30 pins behind in third place. Fourth-place Kamilla Kjeldsen won the women's ranking.
The 2013 European Bowling Tour features 19 tournaments in 13 countries. In its 14th season, the EBT consists of two Platinum, six Gold, four Silver and seven Satellite tournaments. The total prize fund is about one million Euro. The top 50 men and the top 50 women in each event receive ranking points. Those points will be tabulated throughout the season to determine the top 16 men and top 16 women who will compete in the seventh EBT Masters in in Tilburg, Netherlands, in March 2014.
Thomas Larsen (l.) of Denmark led the field of 103 players from four countries with 1442 and an average of 240.33 for six games en route to lead a group of 32 players into Sunday's finals at Odense International in Odense, Denmark. Swedish bowlers dominated the last qualifying day. Total five players cracked the top 10 led by Squad 15 leader Peter Hellström (r.), who toppled 1413 pins including a pair of 265 games to rocket into second place.
Ida Andersson (l.) of Sweden and Denmark's Mai Ginge Jensen (r.), Denmark, led Friday's squads 12 & 13 to sit in fifth and 11th place in the qualifying of the Odense International. Danish bowlers are in control of leaderboard heading into the last qualifying day on Saturday. Three-time European Bowling Tour champion Thomas Larsen leads the field of 87 players from Denmark, Sweden, Germany and Norway with 1442 and an average of 240.33.
Mihela Križman (pictured left) and Nino Stenko (right) captured the women's and men's individual titles at the 2013 Slovenian National Championships. The top 27 men and the top 13 women after two qualifying rounds in November 2012 and in February 2013 advanced to the finals which were held Saturday, May 25, at Gladiator bowling center in Ljubljana.
Søren Åhman Hansen of Denmark was the lone player of Thursday's qualifying squads 10 & 11, who made it into the top 24 in the overall standings of the Odense International at Odense Bowling Center in Denmark. Hansen was the best of only nine players, four in Squad 10 and five in Squad 11, with 1284 (214 average) to move into 14th place. Thomas Larsen (pictured), continued to lead the field of 62 players from Denmark, Sweden and Germany with a six-game average of 240.33 and 1442 total.
Daria Kovalova (l.) and Alexander Sarazhinsky (r.) claimed the women's and men's title in the Ukraine Cup 2013 from the top seeded position at Terminal bowling center in Brovari near the capital city of Kiev. In low-scoring but very close championship matches, Kovalova defeated Olga Tarasova by three pins, 356-353, while Sarazhinsky topped Andrey Andreev by two pins, 347-345, to emerge as men's champion.
Just four players took to the lanes at Odense Bowling Center in Odense, Denmark, Wednesday in the eighth qualifying squad including Danish national team members Thomas Larsen and Mik Stampe and they took full advantage. Larsen (l.) posted a 1442 series to overtake the qualifying lead while Stampe (r.) finished his six-game series with the tournament's first 300 game for 1370 (228.33) en route to jump into third place.
There were no changes atop the qualifying leaderboard at the EBT's Odense International in Squads 6 & 7 Tuesday at Odense Bowling Center in Odense, Denmark. Kamilla Kjeldsen (l.) of Denmark continued to lead the field of 57 players from Germany, Sweden and Denmark with 1378 total including 48 pins women's handicap. Danes Lars Nielsen and Britt Brøndsted (r.) led Squad 6 en route to move into sixth and ninth place, respectively.
Wim Claessens (l.) and Melissa Vallons (r.) emerged as men's and women's champions in the 2013 Belgian National Championships, which concluded Sunday, May 26, at Bowling Stones in Wemmel, Belgium. In a high-scoring men's title match, Claessens cruised to the title with a huge 277-255 victory against Jean-Marc Lebon. On the women's side, Vallons topped Veronique Perniaux, 202-179, to wrap up the title.
Kamilla Kjeldsen (pictured) of Denmark posted a 1378 series including 48 pins handicap in Squad 4 Monday at Odense Bowling Center in Denmark to overtake the lead in the Odense International. The two-time European Bowling Tour women's point ranking leader and three-time EBT Masters winner had games of 201, 257, 237, 222, 182 and 231 for 1330 scratch, an average of 221.67, and added eight pins handicap per game to beat out day one leader Frederik Øhrgaard, Denmark, for the top spot by 27 pins.
Frederik Øhrgaard (left) set the tone on the opening qualifying day of the Odense International Sunday at Odense Bowling Center in Odense, Denmark. The Danish national team member led the field of 31 players from Germany, Sweden and Denmark after the first three squads with 1351 total and an average of 225.17 for six games. Øhrgaard, who had games of 226, 208, 197, 245, 239 and 236, second place Ida Andersson of Sweden (1336) have already secured their spots for the Sunday, June 2, finals.
Norwegian national team member Björn Einar Rudshagen (pictured) averaged 232.60 over ten games en route to claim his first European Bowling Tour title in the Bowltech Aalborg International 2013 Sunday at Lovvang Bowling Center in Aalborg, Denmark. The European champion and multiple Norwegian champion became the fourth Norwegian EBT champion in the 14-year history of the Tour after Tore Torgersen (3), Petter Hansen (2) and Svein Roger Olsen (1). He pocketed 5.000 Euro for accomplishing the feat.
Mads Sandbækken and Janne Monsen won the men's and women's individual title at the 2013 Norwegian National Championships. The event was held at Veitvet Bowling Center in Oslo from May 9-12 and drew 301 players including 74 women and 227 men. The Championships were the fourth and last event of the
qualifying series for the 49th QubicaAMF World Cup. Tore Torgersen and Patcharin Torgersen will represent Norway in Siberia from Nov. 15-24, 2013.