Paul Moor starts 2015 European Bowling Tour with victory in 45th Brunswick Ballmaster Open

    01/11/15

    2015 EBT #1 / 2015 WBT #6

    Englishman wins his 16th European Bowling Tour title and his first PBA title with 225-204 win against Finland's Joonas Jehkinen

    2015EBT01PaulMoor2.jpg Paul Moor of England (pictured left; photos Seija Lankinen) defeated Joonas Jehkinen of Finland, 225-204, to kick off the 2015 European Bowling Tour with victory in the 45th Brunswick Ballmaster Open Sunday at Tali Bowling Center in Helsinki, Finland.

    By winning his EBT record 16th career title (Finland's two-hander Osku Palermaa is second with 13 titles) and his first Professional Bowlers Association title, the 36-year-old lefty earned the 13.000 Euro top prize and took the early lead in the 2015 men's point ranking.

    Third-seeded Jehkinen earned the right to bowl top-seeded Moor for the title with an opening game win over two-time Ballmaster Open titlist Kimmo Lehtonen (2002 & '07), 238-233, and a 243-183 victory over No. 2 seed, Martin Larsen of Sweden, the only right-handed player in the stepladder final.

    2015EBT01ChampionshipMatch.jpg

    Moor started the title match with a spare and a four-bagger to take a comfortable 33-pin lead as Jehkinen was unable to strike before the fifth frame. Both players spared in frames six and seven and struck in the eight frame.

    When Jehkinen got his first double thanks to another strike in the ninth frame for a potential 225 game, Moor, finishing first, needed a double to shut out his opponent or spare-strike-spare for 225 to force Jehkinen to strike out in his 10th frame.

    2015EBT01Top4.jpg When Moor got 225, Jehkinen could have forced a one-ball roll-off but a nine-count on his first ball sealed his fate. Jehkinen was consoled with 9.000 Euro, Larsen got 6.000 Euro for third place and Lehtonen received 4.000 Euro.

    L-R Moor, Jehkinen, Larsen and Lehtonen.

    The foursome survived a 23-game format, eight games in the Round of 48 and 15 games of round robin match play, to advance to the stepladder finals. Shayna Ng was the lone woman, who made the cut to the top 16 finishing in sixth place.

    2015BallmasterLogo_small.jpg The 45th Brunswick Ballmaster Open was the opening event of the 2015 European Bowling Tour and the first of three "EBT Platinum" events this season, the highest of the four EBT categories.

    The BBO, which was also the sixth stop of the 2015 World Bowling Tour, was held from Friday, January 2 through Sunday 11, 2015 at 36-lane Tali Bowling Center in Finland's capital city Helsinki.

    Players competed for total prize money of 101.800 Euro including all extra prizes. Low to cash was 48th place, worth 1.100 Euro. According to an agreement between World Bowling and the Professional Bowlers Association (PBA), the Ballmaster Open awarded a PBA title.

    Qualifying (six games, unlimited re-entries) ran through Saturday, Jan. 10. Women received 8 pins handicap each game (up to 292 - maximum score is 300), an equality handicap provided to women in all EBT events.

    A total of 48 players - the top 44 from the overall qualifying standings plus the top 4 from the Desperado Squad - qualified for the finals on Sunday, Jan. 11. The qualifying winner received a 1.500 Euro bonus. The first and second runner-up got 1.000 and 500 Euro, respectively.

    All 48 finalists bowled eight games scratch with the top 16 advancing to the match play portion. Those 16 bowled further 15 games of round robin match play (no position round) with the Round 1 total carried over.

    Players earned 30 bonus pins for each match won and 15 for a tie. The top 4 players after 23 games including bonus pins determined the champion in a traditional stepladder final.

    The No. 4 seed met the No. 3 in the opening match. The winner took on the No. 2 seed for the right to bowl the top seed for the title, the 13.000 Euro top prize and 250 EBT and 50 WBT ranking points, resp.

    2015EBTLogo_small.jpg The 2015 European Bowling Tour currently consists of 21 tournaments in 15 countries featuring three "Platinum" events, four "Gold", three "Silver" and eleven "Satellite" events. All 21 tournaments together offer total prize fund of roughly 1 million Euro (approx. 1.22 million U.S. Dollar).

    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 9th EBT Masters July 25, 2016 at Rose'n Bowl in Serravalle, San Marino following the San Marino Open.

    WBTLogo_small.jpg The 2015 World Bowling Tour, which actually got underway in 2014 with the PBA World Championship, currently consists of 20 tournaments including seven "majors" in the Middle East (9), United States (6), Asia (3), Europe (2).

    Players earn ranking points based on how they finish in each event. The current points system is based on a continuous two-year cycle, so some points earned in 2013 and all points from the 2014 and 2015 are added to determine the points list.

    The top three men and top three women in the WBT points list will be invited to compete in the 2015 World Bowling Tour Finals in the beginning of 2016.

    World Bowling provides governance to international bowling and is made up of 134 bowling international federations. For more information on the World Bowling Tour, click here.

     


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    45th Brunswick Ballmaster Open - Stepladder Finals


    Tali Bowling Center in Helsinki, Finland (Jan. 2-11, 2015)

    2015EBT01Top4.jpgChampionship Round:
    1. Paul Moor, England, 225 (1 game), 13.000 Euro
    2. Joonas Jehkinen, Finland, 706 (3 games), 9.000 Euro
    3. Martin Larsen, Sweden, 183 (1 game), 6.000 Euro
    4. Kimmo Lehtonen, Finland, 233 (1 game), 4.000 Euro

    L-R Moor, Jehkinen, Larsen and Lehtonen.

    Playoff Results:
    First Match: No. 3 Jehkinen def. No. 4 Lehtonen, 238-233
    Second Match: Jehkinen def. No. 2 Larsen, 243-183
    Championship: No. 1 Moor def. Jehkinen, 225-204.

     


    2015 Brunswick Ballmaster Open - Places 5-48 (Cashers)


    5. Osku Palermaa, Finland, 3.000 Euro
    6. Shayna Ng, Singapore, 2.500 Euro
    7. Parker Bohn III, United States, 2.400 Euro
    8. Tony Ranta, Finland, 2.300 Euro
    9. Saku Konttila, Finland, 2.200 Euro
    10. Magnus Johnsson Jr. Sweden, 2.100 Euro
    11. Craig Nidiffer, United States, 2.000 Euro
    12. Jesper Svensson, Sweden, 1.900 Euro
    13. Mika Koivuniemi, Finland, 1.800 Euro
    14. Dominic Barrett, England, 1.700 Euro
    15. Petteri Salonen, Finland, 1.600 Euro
    16. Mattias Wetterberg, Sweden, 1.500 Euro
    17. Isabell Hultin, Sweden, 1.300 Euro
    18. Richard Teece, England, 1.200 Euro
    19. Ida Andersson, Sweden, 1.100 Euro
    20. Samu Valaranta, Finland, 1.100 Euro
    21. Juhani Tonteri, Finland, 1.100 Euro
    22. Tatu Lehtonen, Finland, 1.100 Euro
    23. Lasse Lintilä, Finland, 1.100 Euro
    24. Tim Mack, United States, 1.100 Euro
    25. Dennis Eklund, Sweden, 1.100 Euro
    26. Alexander Johansson, Sweden, 1.100 Euro
    27. Patricia Luoto, Germany, 1.100 Euro
    28. Christophe Sloan, Ireland, 1.100 Euro
    29. Diana Zavjalova, Latvia, 1.100 Euro
    30. Steve Novak, United States, 1.100 Euro
    31. Mika Heino, Finland, 1.100 Euro
    32. Birgit Pöppler, Germany, 1.100 Euro
    33. Kert Truus, Estonia, 1.100 Euro
    34. Henry Laine, Finland, 1.100 Euro
    35. Sandra Andersson, Sweden, 1.100 Euro
    36. Rodolfo Madriz, Costa Rica, 1.100 Euro
    37. Kim Bolleby, Thailand, 1.100 Euro
    38. Chad Roberts, United States, 1.100 Euro
    39. Peter Hellström, Sweden, 1.100 Euro
    40. Jari Ratia, Finland, 1.100 Euro
    41. Mattias Olsson, Sweden, 1.100 Euro
    42. Sami Lampo, Finland, 1.100 Euro
    43. Britt Brøndsted, Denmark, 1.100 Euro
    44. Joonas Jähi, Finland, 1.100 Euro
    45. Markus Jansson, Sweden, 1.100 Euro
    46. Reija Lundén, Finland, 1.100 Euro
    47. Markus Heinonen, Finland, 1.100 Euro
    48. Robert Andersson, Sweden, 1.100 Euro

     


    2015 Brunswick Ballmaster Open - Round Robin Match Play (15 games)


    30 pins bonus per win, 15 for a tie; * women's scores including 8 pins handicap each game. The top 4 after 23 games advance to the stepladder finals.

     


    2015 Brunswick Ballmaster Open - Final Round One


    Final Round One


    Top 16 advance to round robin match play.

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