The leaderboard of the 2014 Brunswick Euro Challenge got a new look after Wednesday's squads 7 & 8 as 14 players moved into the top 16 in the qualifying currently underway at Dream-Bowl Palace in Munich, Germany.
Joachim Karlsson (pictured) of Sweden topped the high-scoring eighth squad and became the first player who surpassed the 1500-mark finishing his six games with 1505 and an average of 250.83. Karlsson had games of 230, 278, 255, 245, 218 and 279 to overtake previous leader
Tim Mack, United States, by 17 pins.
Evgeniya Zelenkova (pictured left) of Russia, who posted a 1339 series in the Friday morning squad (#12), emerged as the qualifying leader of the Ekaterinburg Open 2014 en route to lead 36 players out of 70 participants into Saturday's finals at Hippo Amusement Park in Ekaterinburg, Russia. Zelenkova rolled games of 252, 202, 206, 224, 180 and 227 for 1291, an average of 215.17, and added 48 pins women's handicap to win the qualifying. Zelenkova received six byes and cannot fall lower than fourth in the tournament.
Evgeniya Zelenkova (pictured) of Russia posted a 1339 series in the first squad on Friday (12th overall) en route to overtake the pole position in the Ekaterinburg Open 2014 on the last qualifying day. Zelenkova rolled games of 252, 202, 206, 224, 180 and 227 for 1291, an average of 215.17, and added 48 pins women's handicap to lead a field of 62 players. Qualifying continues Friday with Squads 13-15 scheduled to start at 1, 5 and 9 p.m. Ekaterinburg Time (CET +5) and concludes with the Desperado Squad slated for 0.30 a.m.
Russian bowlers continued to dominate the qualifying of the Ekaterinburg Open 2014. Igor Gorodnichiy (l.) won all three squads on Wednesday en route to overtake the lead of the 43-player field from three countries. Gorodnichiy started the day with a 1253 followed by 1225 before he closed out the day with 1317 (219.50 average) in squad 8 to move to the top of the leaderboard. Evgeniya Smirnova (r.) leaped into second place with 1263 including handicap.
Alexey Parshukov (l.) of Russia posted a 1262 series in Squad 3, an average of 210.33, to lead a field of 37 players from three countries as the qualifying in the Ekaterinburg Open 2014 nears its halfway point on Wednesday. Parshukov started with games of 190, 226, 186, 176 and 216 before he closed the series with 268, the highest game of the tournament so far, to overtake previous leader Yuliya Gorbacheva (r.), Russia, by six pins.
The 2014 Brunswick Euro Challenge was a European Bowling Tour and World Bowling Tour event that offered a PBA International title if won by a PBA member. The last day of qualifying and all rounds of the finals were covered live on Bowlingdigital's YouTube channel. Marshall Kent, United States, Daniel Fransson, Sweden and Chris Loschetter, United States, battled it out for the title and the 11.111 Euro top prize in a stepladder final at Dream-Bowl Palace in Munich, Germany.
Daniel Fransson (pictured) of Sweden did not expect to roll any 300 game in the 2014 Brunswick Euro Challenge as he did not pay the entry fee for the 300 Game Jackpot. When Fransson struck on 12 consecutive shots in the game in the Round of 28, he recorded his third perfecto and the 10th overall in this tournament. Fransson, who started with games of 201 and 224 and closed out with 267, 248 and 243, led the round with 1483, an average of 247.17, to lead the top 8 into the round robin match play portion. All pins carry over.
PBA champion Mike Fagan (l.), USA, posted the highest six-game series of 1552 in the 2014 Brunswick Euro Challenge so far to pace the Round of 64 Sunday morning at Dream-Bowl Palace in Munich, Germany. Fagan, who targets to win his fifth career PBA title and his sixth title on the European Bowling Tour, was 36 pins ahead of 2012-13 PBA Player of the Year, Sean Rash (r.), who was second with 1516 including back-to-back 277 opening games.
Danish national team member Carsten Warming Hansen (l.) averaged 241.83 in the 18th and last qualifying squad of the 2014 Brunswick Euro Challenge en route to become the only player in the Saturday night squad who made the cut to the top 52. Hansen toppled 1451 pins to rocket from 93rd to 20th place in the overall qualifying standings. Joonas Jähi (r.) of Finland led a field of 338 players from 31 countries with 1545 and an average of 257.50.
Joonas Jehkinen (pictured) of Finland was the only player of 99 participants in the penultimate squad, who moved into the top 52 as the qualifying of the 2014 Brunswick Euro Challenge nears conclusion. Jehkinen, who won last year's qualifying with 1523, rolled a 1469 series (244.83 average) to lead Squad 17 Saturday evening at Dream-Bowl Palace in Munich, Germany, en route to move from 100th to 15th place. His compatriot Joonas Jähi leads the field of 330 players from 31 countries heading into the last squad with 1545 (257.50).
Singapore's Jazreel Tan (l.) and John Wells (r.) of England became the 7th and 8th player who cracked the 1500-bar in the qualifying of the 2014 Brunswick Euro Challenge in Squad 16 at Dream-Bowl Palace in Munich, Germany. Tan is the the best of 67 women in the 322-player field from 31 countries in fifth place with 1506. Wells took over eighth place with 1502 including the tournament's fifth 300 game and the squad-best average of 250.33.
Collegiate standout Marshall Kent (pictured), United States, started the last day of qualifying in the 2014 Brunswick Euro Challenge by rolling a 1522 series en route to climb into third place in the overall qualifying standings. The Team USA member had games of 235, 261, 222, 300, 256 and 248, an average of 253.37. Kent and Germany's Andreas Gripp brought the number of 300 games to four. Joonas Jähi of Finland remained atop the 306 players from 30 countries with 1545 and the field-best 257.50 average.
There were no changes atop the leaderboard in the 14th qualifying squad of the 2014 Brunswick Euro Challenge Friday night as the number of participating players reached the 300-mark. Anthony Pepe (l.), USA, toppled 1449 pins to lead the squad and to leap into 14th place. Joonas Jähi (r.) of Finland, who posted a 1545 series in Squad 10 (257.50 average), leads the field of 303 players from 30 countries into the last day of qualifying on Saturday.
Chris Barnes (pictured), United States, averaged 251.33 in Squad 12 Friday afternoon at Dream-Bowl Palace in Unterföhring, Germany, including the second perfecto of the 2014 Brunswick Euro Challenge to overtake second place in the overall qualifying standings. Barnes, who recently won the H.H. Emir Cup in Doha, Qatar for his 17th career PBA title, started with games of 229, 247. 246 and 237 before making his run at perfection in game five. The four-time WTBA World Champion closed out with 249 for 1508.
Priscilla Maaswinkel and Tom van der Vliet (pictured, r-l) emerged as women's and men's All Events champions at the Dutch National Championships 2014 at Claus Event Center in Hoofddorp. It was the second national title after 2011 for Maaswinkel and the first for Van der Vliet. Total 79 participants, 61 men and 18 women, participated in the highest division. They bowled eight games of qualification with the Top 20 men and the top 10 women advancing to the final rounds.
Two-time PBA champion Ryan Ciminelli (l.), United States, posted the highest series on the third day of qualifying at the 2014 Brunswick Euro Challenge to move into fifth place with 1375. Ciminelli, who finished seventh in the 11th Kuwait International Open last week, averaged 229.17 in Squad 6 including games of 227, 248, 213, 222, 227 and 238. Fellow PBAers Tim Mack (r.), United States, continued to lead the field of 82 players with 1488.
PBA bowlers Tim Mack and Tom Hess rolled 1488 and 1413 series Sunday afternoon at Dream-Bowl Palace in Munich, Germany, to become the first players in the 2014 Brunswick Euro Challenge, who cracked the 1400-bar. Mack; who averaged 248 to overtake the lead, had games of 254, 177, 243, 258, 288 and 268. Hess (r.) averaged 235.50 including five games between 208 and 244 and a high game of 289 to overtake second place.
The 11th Brunswick Euro Challenge 2014 got underway Saturday, March 15, at Dream-Bowl Palace in Unterföhring the Greater Munich area in Germany. 19 players from seven countries took to the lanes with Andrey Suslov (l.) of Ukraine taking the early lead with 1308 or an average of 218.00 for six games. Second place belonged to Austrian standout Thomas Gross (r.), who toppled 1277 pins including the highest game of the day (248).
Bowlingdigital.com will be onsite March 22-23 to provide Live Coverage and Live Streaming.