Starting Thursday in fourth place, Johnny Spil (pictured left) of the Netherlands rolled a 1499 series in Squad 7 to overtake the lead in the qualifying of the Hammer Bronzen Schietspoel Tournament at Dolfijn Bowling Tilburg in Tilburg, Netherlands.

Spil, who led Squad 3 with 1393, missed the magic "1500" by a whisker behind games of 253, 268, 279, 213, 239 and 247 or an average of 249.83. The Dutch leads a field of 135 players from eleven countries into the last two qualifying days Friday and Saturday. The qualifying winner will receive a 1.000 Euro bonus.

Jean-Marc Lebon (above right) of Belgium, who led qualifying since the very first squad with 1483, slipped to second place. Bjørn Einar Rudshagen (left) of Norway was mere 29 pins behind Spil in Squad 7 to jump into third place with 1470 including high games of 279 and 268.

Also cracking the top 5 was defending champion Thomas Larsen (right) of Denmark, who used six games between 214 and 278 and a 1456 series to leap into fifth place. Sandwiched between the two European Bowling Tour titlists is local youth bowler Youri Fens, who slipped to fourth place with 1460.

Rounding out the top 6 is Marawan Aernoudt, Belgium, who posted the tournament's first 300 game in his 1434 set in Squad 2. Seventh place belongs to Jeffrey van de Wakker (left), who led Squad 8 on Thursday evening with 1425 including two huge games (286 and 278).

Squad 8 was highlighted by the second perfecto of the tournament. Jeroen van der Heide (right), Netherlands, accomplished the feat in the second game of a 1229 series, which also included a 208 game and four games under 200. Van der Heide sits in 10th place with his high series of 1390.

Gianny Hendrickx (left) of Belgium led the first squad on Thursday (#6) with 1335 including six games between 203 and 258 to finish the day in 23rd place.

Lisanne Breeschooten remained the best of 22 women in the field. The Dutch national team member is currently ninth with 1393 including 48 pins women's handicap. Anna Andersson (right) of Sweden was fourth in Squad 7 with 1364 total (219.33 scratch) to leap into 18th place.

With six squads remaining, Ellen Jansen, Netherlands, is the only other woman in the top 36 in 28th place with 1331. Her fellow countryman Wesley Gorter holds 36th and last place to advance directly to the finals with 1311 or an average of 218.50.

Qualifying continues Friday, February 28, with Squads 9-11 scheduled to start at noon, 4 and 8 p.m. CET.

The Hammer Bronzen Schietspoel Tournament 2014 is the third stop of the 2014 European Bowling Tour and the first of four EBT "Silver" tournaments, the third-highest of four EBT categories. The tournament will be held from Sunday, Feb. 23, through Sunday, March 2, at 20-lane Dolfijn Bowling in Tilburg, Netherlands.

Players will compete for total prize money of 44.400 Euro with 6.000 Euro going to the winner, 4.000 to the runner-up and 3.000 and 2.000 to third and fourth place finishers, respectively. Low to cash is 46th place (400 Euro).

Qualifying runs through Saturday, March 1 with the final qualifying Squad 14 scheduled for 6 p.m. CET, followed by the ultimate one-game Desperado Squad slated for 9.30 p.m. Women receive 8 pins handicap each game (maximum score is 300), a standard on the European Bowling Tour.

A total of 46 players - the top 36 qualifiers, the top 4 from the Desperado Squad and the top 6 from a separate leaderboard of Squads 1-4 conducted Feb. 23-25 - will advance to the finals on Sunday, March 2. The top 6 qualifiers will receive one bye. The winner of the qualifying receives a 1.000 Euro bonus.

Players ranked 7 to 46 will bowl four games with the top 18 players joining the top six qualifiers in the eliminator finals. Those 24 players will be divided into six groups of four players each for the first of four eliminator rounds.

All four players of each group will bowl a two-game match with the two lowest scoring players eliminated. The two highest scoring players advance to the next round. In the first round four "lucky losers" (four highest third-place finishers) also advance.

The field will be cut to 16, eight and then four players who will bowl a final two-game round to determine the champion.

After the 2014 Brunswick Italia Challenge has been cancelled, the 2014 European Bowling Tour features 20 tournaments in 14 countries. In its 15th season, the EBT consists of two Platinum, six Gold, three Silver and nine Satellite tournaments. The total prize fund exceeds 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 12 men and top 12 women, who will compete in the eighth EBT Masters July 6, 2015 in Asti, Italy.