A field of 21 players from Denmark, Sweden and Poland kicked off the
Odense International 2014, a European Bowling Tour "Satellite" event, Sunday at Odense Bowling Center in Odense, Denmark.
Dan Østergaard-Poulsen (pictured), Denmark, finished his six-game series in Squad 2 with 279 and 267 to pace the field after three of 16 qualifying squads with 1381 and an average of 230.17. Østergaard and second-place
Jan Andersen (1301), Denmark, are automatically qualified for the finals on Sunday, June 1.
Pablo Barriopedro (pictured) of Spain became the first player in the second annual Brunswick Madrid Challenge, who cracked the 1400-bar en route to take over the lead in qualifying Tuesday evening at Bowling ChamartÃn in Madrid, Spain. Barriopedro, who was fourth after a 1318 series in Squad 10, rolled 256, 277 and 255 games (788 series) out of the starting block and finished with 193, 211 and 225 for 1417, an average of 237.17. Qualifying continues Wednesday, June 25, with Squads 13 & 14
scheduled to start at 5 and 9 p.m. CEST.
Spanish bowlers continued to dominate the leaderboard in the II Brunswick Madrid Challenge after players of Squad 10 finished their six-game qualifying block Monday evening at Bowling ChamartÃn. Ruben Orche (l.) led the squad with 1340 total and an average of 223.33 to jump into second place in the overall standings. Javier Moreno (r.), who posted 1381 in the first squad, continued to lead the field of 55 players, 47 men and eight women.
Iñigo GarcÃa (l.) and Raul Jimenez (r.) brought the number of 1300 series in the II Brunswick Madrid Challenge to three as the duo led the fifth qualifying squad Sunday morning with 1322 and 1305, resp. Squad 1 leader Javier Moreno leads a field of 32 players with 1381 (230.17 ave.). The three Spaniards earned automatic spots for Sunday's finals by finishing 1-2-3 in the standings after two days. Qualifying continues Monday, June 23, at 9 p.m. with Squad 10.
Javier Moreno averaged over 230 in the first squad of the second Brunswick Madrid Challenge Sunday at Bowling ChamartÃn in Madrid, Spain, to lead a field of 21 players from Spain with 1381 total. Moreno started with games of 218, 277 and 224 before he was informed that his grandmother just had passed away. Somehow he was able to finish the six-game series with three games between 212 and 226 to lead the European Bowling Tour "silver" event after the first qualifying day.
Yelena Grishinenko (l.) and youth bowler Ilya Orlov (r.) captured the women's and men's titles in the 2014 Kazakhstan Cup in Almaty. Grishinenko, 37, dominated the women's field from the beginning and finished distant 489 pins ahead of her nearest competitor to win the women's title. 16-year-old Orlov averaged over 213 for 19 games to win his first career national title. The duo will represent Kazakhstan in the 2014 Bowling World Cup.
135 players from 26 European Tenpin Bowling Federation (ETBF) member federations participated in the Women's European Championships, which was held June 6-14 at Neue City Bowling center in Berlin, Germany. 21 countries sent a full team to compete in all six disciplines: Singles, Doubles, Trios, five-player Teams, All-Events and Masters match play. USBC Queens and Intercollegiate Singles champion Diana Zavjalova, the lone player from Lavia, concluded the Championships with victory in All-Events and Masters match play.
Carlo Greulich (l.) of Germany finished the final round with a big game en route to win the 37th Grand Prix Zurich Sunday at bowling center BESECO in suburban Winterthur, Switzerland. In the handicap tournament, which featured a special position point system format, Greulich was one point behind fellow countryman Frank Börner (r.) heading into the last game. The lefty fired a 258 game to beat out Börner (233) for the top spot by eight points, 119 to 111.
Team USA member Liz Johnson (l.) struck out in the 9th and 10th frame in the title match of the Odense International to defeat top-seeded Mai Ginge Jensen (r.) of Denmark, 232-209, en route to win her second career European Bowling Tour title Sunday afternoon in Odense, Denmark. It is the second win by a woman on the 2014 Tour and marks the second consecutive win and third overall for Johnson in the women's ranking of an EBT event.
Joachim Karlsson (pictured) of Sweden posted a 1354 series in Squad 14 of 16 Saturday at Odense Bowling Center in Denmark en route to win the qualifying of the Odense International and to lead 36 players, 26 men and 10 women, into the finals on Sunday. Karlsson, who will be looking to for his first European Bowling Tour title, rolled games of 268, 213, 235, 257, 259 and 222, an average of 242.33, to beat out his fellow countryman Christoffer Jakobsson for the top spot by seven pins.
Mai Ginge Jensen (l.) of Denamrk totaled 1442 in Friday's Squad 12 to rise to the top in the Odense International heading into the last qualifying day at Odense Bowling Center in Odense, Denmark. Jensen overtook previous leader Carsten Warming Hansen, Denmark, by 11 pins. Kamilla Kjeldsen (r.), Denmark, paced Squad 13 with 1402 to leap into sixth place. The leaderboard got a whole new look on Friday as 12 players moved into the top 15.
Dutch Jeroen Van Geel and Frode Jørgen Aaneby of Norway both toppled 1327 pins to lead Thursday's Squads 10 & 11 en route to crack the top 10 in the qualifying of the Odense International in Denmark. Van Geel (l.) finished Squad 10 with a 223 game to leap into eighth place. Aaneby (r.) was seeded ninth due to the lower last game (214). Carsten Warming Hansen of Denmark continued to lead the field of 68 players with 1431 (238.50 average).
Mikkel Brus Sørensen (l.) of Denmark was the lone player in Tuesday's squads 6 & 7 who cracked the 1300-bar en route to move into sixth place in the overall qualifying standings in the Odense International in Denmark. After a slow start, Sørensen closed out Squad 6 with 223, back-to-back 247 and 237 for 1345 total or an average of 224.17. As Wednesday's Squads 8 & 9 have been cancelled, qualifying continues Thursday, May 29, with Squads 10 & 11 scheduled for 4 and 7.30 p.m. CEST.
Carsten Warming Hansen (l.) of Denmark and Swede Emil Ã…gren (r.) both cracked the 1400-bar in Monday's Squads 4 and 5 to overtake the qualifying lead in the Odense International currently underway at Odense Bowling Center in Odense, Denmark. Hansen, a member of the Danish national teams, averaged 238.50 in Squad 4 including games of 258, 276, 200, 259, 229 and 209 to lead the field of 37 players with 1431.
Jesper Svensson (pictured) of Sweden averaged 244.1 over 10 games to win his second European Bowling Tour title in the Kegel Aalborg International 2014, which concluded Sunday afternoon at Lovvang Bowling Center in Aalborg, Denmark. He received 5.000 Euro for the victory. The 19-year-old two-handed lefty, who took a 120-pin lead into the final four-game Round of 8, rolled games of 247, 237, 239 and 202 for 925 (231.25 average), the fourth-highest block of the round, to easily maintain his lead and to cruise to the title.
Lior Koren of Holon club and Sara Harlap of Super Strike club (r-l) won the men's and women's individual titles at the 2014 Israel National Championships which were held at Hutzot bowling center in Haifa. In the men's championship round over three games total pins, Koren spared a 10-pin in the last frame to beat out Asaf Morad and Or Aviram for the top spot, 574-570-549. On the women's side, Aviram/Harlap defeated Shir Azulay and defending champion Sarit Mizrachi, 590-573-527. 
Thomas Larsen (l.) of Denmark defeated his fellow countrywoman Kamilla Kjeldsen (r.) in an all-Danish title match at Timeout Bowling Center in Istanbul, Turkey, 473-421, to claim his fourth European Bowling Tour title in the 9th Istanbul Bowling Open. Larsen received the 7.000 Euro top prize while Kjeldsen pocketed 5.000 Euro for second place. By finishing atop the men's and women's ranking, both players widened their lead in the 2014 EBT Point Rankings.
The four leaders of Thursday's Squads 9-12 and another two players from Squad 12 moved into 3rd to 8th place in the overall qualifying standings after the sixth day of the 9th Istanbul Bowling Open at Timeout Bowling Center in Istanbul, Turkey. Ukrainian Andrey Suslov (l.) and Jesse Kallio (r.) of Finland both rolled 1365 series, an average of 227.50, in Squad 10 and 12 to move into third and fourth place. Qualifying continues Friday with Squads 13-16.