PBA Hall of Famer Brian Voss wins his second EBT title in Catalonia Open

PBA Hall of Famer Brian Voss (pictured left), United States, defeated Jesper Agerbo (right), Denmark, 235-190, in the title match of the 9th Catalonia Open - Trofeu Galasa Sunday at Bowling Pedralbes in Barcelona, Spain,.
The 25-time PBA champion, seeded first, claimed his second career European Bowling Tour title after his victory in the Barcelona Int'l 2005 in the same center and pocketed the 6.000 Euro top prize.

Agerbo, seeded third, eliminated his compatriot, defending Catalonia Open champion Thomas Larsen (below left) in the semifinal match, 237-184. Agerbo received 3.000 Euro for second place while Larsen garnered 2.000. Thanks to the 70 ranking points for the third-palce finisher, Larsen overtook the lead in the European Bowling Tour Men's rankings.

Sixth placed Joline Persson Planefors (right), Sweden, has won the women's rankings, for the first time in her career.

2011 EBT Men's Ranking
2011 EBT Women's Ranking

The 9th Catalonia Open - Trofeu Galasa was the fifth tournament on the 2011 European Bowling Tour schedule and the second of total seven "Silver" events this season.

The Catalonia Open, which was held from March 15-20, 2011 at 14-laner Bowling Pedralbes in Barcelona, Spain, offered total prize money of 44.700 Euro (approx. US $62,345) with 6.000 Euro going to the winner, 3.000 to the runner-up and 2.000 to the third place finisher.

Since the Viborg International in Viborg, Denmark originally scheduled for July 30-Aug. 7, 2011 has been cancelled, the 2011 European Bowling Tour consists of 21 tour stops in 17 countries including two Platinum, six Gold, seven Silver and six Satellite tournaments.

The top 50 men and the top 50 women in each event receive ranking points. The winner of a Platinum tournament receives 250 ranking points, the winner of a Gold tournament gets 150, the winner of a Silver tournament such as the Catalonia Open earns 100, and the winner of a Satellite tournament gets 50 ranking points.

The top 16 men and the top 16 women at the end of the 2011 season qualify for the 5th EBT Masters to be held at Dream-Bowl Palace in Unterföhring near Munich, Germany on April 30 and May 1, 2012. The event will become the first EBT Masters to be contested on lane condition.

Qualifying ran from Tuesday, March 15 through Saturday, March. 19. Women receive 8 pins handicap each game throughout the entire event, a standard for women on the European Bowling Tour.

A total of 48 players, the top 42 qualifiers including all squad leaders plus the next six women advanced to the finals and carried forward 50 per cent of their respective qualifying total into Final Round One.

Those 48 players bowled four games to cut to the top 24 with the pinfall total being carried forward into Final Round Two. Those 24 determined the top three players for the stepladder finals in another four-game block.

In the semifinal, the No. 3 seed took on No. 2 for the right to bowl the top seeded player for the title and the 6.000 Euro top prize.