Osku Palermaa shoots big games to win the 2nd Track Dream-Bowl Palace Open

Three-time European Bowling Tour ranking champion Osku Palermaa (pictured left) of Finland averaged 256.17 in the single-elimination finals of the 2nd Track Dream-Bowl Palace Open Sunday at Dream Bowl Palace in Munich, Germany en route to win the title and the 10.000 Euro top prize.

In the high-scoring championship match over two games total pinfall, Palermaa defeated Swede Johan Helldén, 524-496. With the 100 ranking points for the victory in the EBT Silver tournament, Palermaa overtook the lead in the 2011 EBT men's rankings.

Palermaa, who has won his first PBA title in the PBA World Series of Bowling in November 2010, finished qualifying among the top six to earn two byes for the first round of the finals. The two-hander averaged 247.75 in Round Three to earn the No. 2 seed for the eight-player head-to-head match play portion.

In the opening round, Palermaa rolled games of 241 and 257 to eliminate fellow countryman and national team mate Petteri Salonen (left), 498-443. In an all-Finnish semifinal match against lefty Kimmo Lehtonen (right), Palermaa took a 74-pin lead with a 300 game and cruised to a huge 516-443 victory.

Helldén had to go the distance after finishing qualifying in 17th place. The Swede rolled four-game series of 936, 982 and 978, an average of 241.33, en route to earn the No. 4 seed for the playoffs.

He started his way to the title match with a stunningly ruthless 524-496 victory against PBA super star and Tournament of Champions winner, Mika Koivuniemi, Finland. Helldén had games of 279 and 245, while the frontrunner for PBA Player of the Year honors had 216 and 280.

The Swede carried the momentum into his semifinal match against three-time EBT ranking champion Paul Moor defeating the Englishman, 459-390.

Helldén pocketed 6.000 Euro for second place. Moor, seeded third, and No. 8 seed Lehtonen received 2.500 Euro each for third and fourth place. Last year's runner-up and top seed Robert Andersson (left), Sweden, who fell to Lehtonen in the opening round, 483-452, was fifth, followed by Koivuniemi, PBA and USBC Hall of Famer Parker Bohn III (right) and Salonen. Places 5-8 received 1.500 Euro apiece.

The PBA pros dominated the six-game qualifying round in the 2nd Track Dream-Bowl Palace Open. Four-time PBA titlist Sean Rash led the field of 252 players - 208 men and 44 women - from 25 countries and regions with 1545 total and an average of 257.50. Koivuniemi was second with 1511 and Bohn third with 1498.

PBA exempt player Chris Loschetter (left), who has won the Kuwait Open in March, was fourth with 1485. Palermaa landed in fifth place with 1481.

Five of the 44 women, Danes Kamilla Kjeldsen, sisters Anja Ginge Jensen and Mai Ginge Jensen, Britt Brøndsted (256 in the Desperado Squad) as well as Germany's Janin Ribguth advanced to the finals.

Kjeldsen (right), a two-time EBT women's ranking champion and three-time defending ENT Masters winner, was the sole woman who reached the third round of the finals eventually finishing in 11th place en route winning the women's rankings of the tournament.

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

The 2nd Track Dream-Bowl Palace Open was held from March 30 - April 3, 2011 at 52-lane Dream Bowl Palace in Unterföhring, Germany, the biggest bowling center in Europe. The tournament was the sixth stop of the 2011 European Bowling Tour and the third of total seven "Silver" events this season.

The DPB Open offered total prize fund of 50.000 Euro with 10.000 Euro going to the winner. Women received 8 pins handicap each game, a standard for women on the European Bowling Tour.

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 Dream-Bowl Palace 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.

A total of 48 players qualified for the finals on Sunday, April 4th. The top 8 qualifiers earned two byes while players seeded 9-16 bypassed the first round of the finals.

Rounds 1-3 featured 4-game blocks starting from scratch which trimmed the field to 32, 20 and then 8 players who advanced to the quarterfinals. The format switched to match play with the two-game total determining the winner.

In each round the highest seeded player after Round 3 met the lowest seeded player, the second highest met the second lowest, and so on.

2011 EBT Schedule and Champions

 

Dream Bowl Palace in Munich, Germany (March 30 - April 3, 2011)

Championship Round:
1. Osku Palermaa, Finland, 1537 (6 games), 10.000 Euro
2. Johan Hellden, Sweden, 1453 (6 games), 6.000 Euro
3. Paul Moor, England, 894 (4 games), 2.500 Euro
4. Kimmo Lehtonen, Finland, 924 (4 games), 2.500 Euro
5. Robert Andersson, Sweden, 452 (2 games), 1.500 Euro
6. Mika Koivuniemi, Finland, 496 (2 games), 1.500 Euro
7. Parker Bohn III, United States, 481 (2 games), 1.500 Euro
8. Petteri Salonen, Finland, 443 (2 games), 1.500 Euro

Playoff Results:
Quarterfinals:
#8 Lehtonen (224 + 259) def. #1 Andersson (226 + 226), 483-452
#2 Palermaa (241 + 257) def. #7 Salonen (224 + 219), 498-443
#3 Moor (259 + 245) def. #6 Bohn (265 + 216), 504-481
#4 Helldén (279 + 245) def. #5 Koivuniemi (216 + 280), 524-496

Semifinals:
#2 Palermaa (300 + 216) def. #8 Lehtonen (226 + 217), 516-443
#4 Helldén (232 + 219) def. #3 Moor (201 + 189), 459-390

Championship:
#2 Palermaa (278 + 245) def. #4 Helldén (214 + 256), 523-470.

 

9. Martin Larsen, Sweden, 750 Euro
10. Sean Rash, United States, 750 Euro
11. Kamilla Kjeldsen, Denmark, 750 Euro
12. Dennis Eklund, Sweden, 750 Euro
13. Niko Kurppa, Finland, 750 Euro
14. Erik Andersin, Sweden, 750 Euro
15. Stuart Williams, England, 750 Euro
16. Chris Loschetter, United States, 750 Euro
17. Pascal Winternheimer, Germany, 750 Euro
18. Alexander Medveditskov, Russia, 750 Euro
19. Joonas Jähi, Finland, 750 Euro
20. Mike Fagan, United States, 750 Euro
21. Janin Ribguth, Germany, 550 Euro
22. Mai Ginge Jensen, Denmark, 550 Euro
23. Jimmy Mortensen, Denmark, 550 Euro
24. Jesper Agerbo, Denmark, 550 Euro
25. Ron Mohr, United States, 550 Euro
26. Or Aviram, Israel, 550 Euro
27. Thomas Larsen, Denmark, 550 Euro
28. Michael Grabovac, Germany, 550 Euro
29. Mathias Årup, Sweden, 550 Euro
30. Peter Hellström, Sweden, 550 Euro
31. Anja Ginge Jensen, Denmark, 550 Euro
32. Matt Miller, England, 550 Euro
33. Rob Thurlby, England, 400 Euro
34. Lars Tangermann, Germany, 400 Euro
35. Joonas Jehkinen, Finland, 400 Euro
36. Martin Paulsson, Sweden, 400 Euro
37. Britt Brøndsted, Denmark, 400 Euro
38. Andrey Suslov, Russia, 400 Euro
39. Ronnie Russell, United States, 400 Euro
40. Daniel Hellmich, Germany, 400 Euro
41. Teemu Raatikainen, Finland, 400 Euro
42. Manuel Mrosek, Germany, 400 Euro
43. Anssi Valtonen, Finland, 400 Euro
44. Lukas Eigelt, Germany, 400 Euro
45. Genadi Sidorov, Russia, 400 Euro
46. Dirk Völkel, Germany, 400 Euro
47. Paul Hutchinson, Denmark, 400 Euro
48. Andreas Skoglund, Norway, 400 Euro

Spots in Pan American Games up for grabs for Team USA men next week

When the men of Team USA descend upon the International Training and Research Center next week for their annual training camp, they also will battle for spots in the Pan American Games.
The Pan American Games Trials will be held on Tuesday and Wednesday with the top two players advancing to represent the United States in Guadalajara, Mexico, in October. The Pan American Games are an Americas version of the Olympic Games which includes the Olympic program sports and others that are not part of the Olympics. The United States Olympic Committee has specific requirements for selecting players to compete in the event.

The 11 members of Team USA, made up of the biggest stars in bowling, will compete in four eight-game blocks over two days. Total pinfall will determine finishing position, which will assign points to each player that makes up 60 percent of the Pan American Games Trials.

The other 40 percent of the equation is based on how each player finished at the United States Bowling Congress Masters and the Lumber Liquidators U.S. Open this year.

The players are ranked in order of finish with the highest Team USA finisher in each event earning 11 points, second gets 10 and so on. If a player did not compete in an event, they get the same amount of points as the final finisher.

With the Masters and U.S. Open completed, Tommy Jones (pictured right) leads the standings with 880 points (two first-place finishes among Team USA for a total of 22 points multiplied by 40). Chris Barnes is second with 800, while Bill O'Neill and Mike Fagan are tied for third with 640 points each.

In addition to the Pan American Games Trials, the Team USA members will take part in specialized training at the ITRC, which is considered the home of Team USA, throughout the week.

The two representatives in the women's division will be determined based on finishes at the USBC Queens and U.S. Women's Open. The women will bowl their Pan American Games Trials the first week of May.

1, Tommy Jones, 880
2, Chris Barnes, 800
3 (tie), Bill O'Neill and Mike Fagan, 640
5, Patrick Allen, 560
6, Walter Ray Williams Jr., 480
7, EJ Tackett, 440
8, Wes Malott, 360
9, Jarrett Mizo, 280
10 (tie), Scott Boyle and Steven Smith, 240.

Canada names team for 2011 Pan American Games