Tolga ÅžiÅŸmanoÄŸullar (pictured left) of Turkey remained unchallenged in Monday's Squad 5 and continued to the lead the qualifying in the 9th Istanbul Bowling Open currently underway at Timeout Bowling Center in Istanbul, Turkey.

Şişmanoğullar leads a field of 79 players, 59 men and 20 women, from five countries with 1401 total and an average of 233.50 for six games. His compatriot Gülhan Aksular (right) is the best of women in second place with 1295 including 48 pins handicap.

By virtue of finishing Squads 1-4 in first and second place, ÅžiÅŸmanoÄŸullar and Aksular will be automatically qualified for Sunday's finals in case they don't finish in the top 38.

Places 3 and 4 also belong to Turkish bowlers. Habib DoÄŸan (left) is third with 1267 and is followed by Barlas KontaÅŸ (right) with 1230. Michael Michajlow of Germany is the best foreign bowler in fifth place with 1218.

Burak Natal, Turkey, is the sixth and last player, who has cracked the 1200-bar (200 average) with 1208.

Mehmet Kaya (below right), Turkey, was the best player in Monday's Squad 5 finishing with 1197 including games of 213, 223, 192, 173, 213 and 183, an average of 199.50. Kaya, who received a 300 Euro bonus for winning the squad, leaped into seventh place in the overall standings. The top eight qualifiers will earn three byes.

Mehmet Çelik, Turkey, holds the 38th and last place to qualify directly for the finals with 1072 and an average of 178.67. Qualifying continues Tuesday, May 6, with Squad 6 scheduled to start at 9 p.m. Eastern European Summer Time (CEST +1).

The 9th Istanbul Bowling Open will be held from Saturday, May 3, through Sunday, May 11, at 20-lane Timeout Bowling Center in Istanbul, Turkey. The tournament is the sixth stop of the 2014 European Bowling Tour season and the second of six EBT "gold" tournaments, the second-highest of four categories.

Players will compete for total prize money of 60.000 Euro with 7.000 Euro going to the winner, 5.000 to the runner-up and 1.400 and 3.250 apiece to the third and fourth place finisher, respectively. Low to cash is 48th place worth 500 Euro.

Qualifying got underway on Saturday, May 3, and runs through Saturday, May 10 with the final qualifying Squad 20 scheduled for 8 p.m. Eastern European Summer Time (CEST +1). Qualifying concludes with the one-game Desperado Squad 2 slated to start at Midnight.

Women receive 8 pins handicap each game (maximum score is 300), a standard on the European Bowling Tour.

Total 48 players - the top 38 qualifiers, two players of a separate leaderboard from Squads 1-4 plus the two players of Desperado Squad 1 and six players of Desperado Squad 2 - will advance to the finals on Sunday, May 11.

The top eight qualifiers earns three byes, qualifiers 9-18 get two byes, and qualifiers 19-28 receive a first-round bye.

The first five rounds of the final consist of four games from scratch. The field will be trimmed to 38, 28, 18, 8 and then four players, who will determine the champion in head-to-head matches with the two-game total determining the winner.

The top-seeded player after Round 5 bowls No. 4 seed and No. 2 takes on No. 3 in the semifinals. The winners advance to the title match while the losers will be seeded third and fourth according to their seeding after Round 5.

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.