9th January, Helsinki: Defending champion, Mika Koivnuniemi successfully defended the title he won last year when the PBA pro defeated top seed, Sean Rash of USA, 236-191 to claim the Brunswick Ballmaster Open 2011 crown for the third time.

Seeded fourth after the Step 2 round-robin finals, Mika Koivuniemi edged No. 3 seed, Kimmo Lehtonen, 235-224 to advance into the second semifinal match against No, 2 seed, Paul Moor of England.

Koivuniemi went on a strikefest and trashed the Englishman, 279-196 to challenge No. 1 seed and fellow PBA pro, Sean Rash in the finals. The winning momentum carried the lanky defending champion to take the match, 236-191 to win his second consecutive title.

"It's a great feeling!," exclaimed the newly-crown champion, Koivuniemi. "I've bowled three Brunswick Ballmaster Open tournaments and won them all, smiling after final. All tournaments have been naturally different and great.

"I was pretty confident when I started stepladder finals. I had good reaction at the beginning and I could follow my game plane and at my own pace. I could bowl my own game whole time."

In the earlier Step 2 round-robin finals, Sean Rash topped the finals with 5855 ahead of Moor in second with 5813. Kehtonen and Koivnuniemi finished third and fourth with 5748 and 5668 to advance into the stepladder finals.

American PBA pro, Chris Barnes missed the cut by 9 pins after he managed 5659 while favourite, Oska Palermaa of Finland ended in seventh behind Swede Martin Paulsson.

The Brunswick Ballmaster Open 2011 ended with Finn, Perttu Jussila beating fellow compatriot, Ville Holmströmin and Swede Mathais Arup to pocket 4800 euros perfect game award.

Photos courtesy of Tali Bowl.

9th January, Helsinki: American PBA pro, Sean Rash scorched the lanes at Tali Bowl to lead the Top 16 into Step 2 finals after topping Step 1 finals of the Brunswick Ballmaster Open 2011 ahead of Mika Koivuniemi and Osku Palermaa second and third on Sunday.

Denmark's Carsten Warming Hansen set a cracking pace with a superb 255 opening game ahead of PBA pro, Sean Rash in second, 7 pins adrift. But the Dane's lead did not last long as Finn Osku Palermaa took over the running after the second game.

Rash who was 7 pins behind the two-handed Finn, took over the running after the third game and held in till the halfway mark when Palermaa regained the lead with a sizzling 290 in the fifth.

The American bounched back to regain the lead and had a 33 pin lead over Palermaa after the sixth game. By the seventh game, Rash saw his lead reduced to just 2 pins after Mika Koivuniemi moved up to second.

Rash and Koivuniemi posted identical 246 to end the finals in the same order. Rash amassed 1932 over Koivuniemi's 1930 while Palermaa recovered to claim third spot with 1900. Ronnie Russell of USA and Paul Moor of England rounded the top 5.

Swede Mathias Arup shot the tournament's fourth 300 in the seventh game of the finals. Mathias will now together with Ville Holmströmin and Perttu Jussila fight for the prize money, which is at the moment about 4600 euros.

Last and 16th bowler to advance to the Round-Robin Step 2 finals was Krista Pollanen of Finland with 1735. American Carolyn Dorin-Ballard was unlucky to miss the cut by just 1 pin finishing 17th.

Photos courtesy of Tali Bowl.

8th January, Helsinki: PBA pro, Mika Koivuniemi signalled his intension to defend the title he won last year after topping Squad 15 of Brunswick Ballmaster Open 2011 to move into second overall behind leader, Finn Osku Palermaa.

Koivuniemi lined himself up nicely with lines of 225, 204, 252, 258, 279 and 233 for a splendid 1451, just 16 pins short of toppling leader, Osku Palermaa of Finland on 1467. With his improved result, Koivuniemi moved up to second overall.

"I'm pretty satisfied with this squad," said Koivuniemi, who has eight PBA titles in his name and was the 2003-2004 PBA Player of the Year. "I found a ball yesterday evening, which worked perfectly. I bowled with it only few shots, as I wanted to save it till finals.

"Today I tried something else and also a way to release a ball right. Now I've more alternatives for tomorrow," added Koivuniemi interviewed by Pekka Korpi.

Tony Ranta of Finland topped Squad 14 earlier with 1425. Ranta, who started well and had 770 after the first three games said: "This was my second try. Yesterday evening I found game plan at the last game. I followed this game plan today for a whole day. I bowled well, not many mistakes."

Perttu Jussila of Finland, who almost shot the tournament's third 300 earlier, finally knocked down all the pins in his fifth game for the third perfect game to finish second to Ranta with 1418.

Another Finn, Mika Maattaa rolled the tournament's second 300 but his six-game total of 1397 could not land him a spot in the finals despite topping the opening Squad 13 on final day of qualifying.

The last squad saw three bowlers, Dennis Eklund from Sweden, who won Squad 16, posted 1382, Nicki Ainge from England with 1371 and Finnish Matias Kallio with 1355. The cut was finally 1345 and last finalist was Kristoffer Hagelberg from Sweden.

The desperado squad top four positions went to Ville Holmström with 268, Juha Maja of Finland with 267, Raymond Teece of England with 257 and Heidi Manninen of Finland with 251.

Photos courtesy of Tali Bowl.

7th January, Helsinki: PBA pro Sean Rash finally made an impact at the Brunswick Ballmaster Open 2011 after the American topped Squad 12 with 1447 to take up second in the overall standings ahead of 2010 EBT winner, Dominic Barrett of England in third.

The 28-year-old winner of four PBA titles posted lines of 245, 255, 203, 227, 249 and 268 to round off a superb qualifying effort of 1447. Rash's score just fell short by 20 pins to topple current leader, Osku Palermaa of Finland.

2010 EBT winner and nrwly-crowned AIK Tournament champion in Stockholm, Dominic Barrett finished secodn to the Amercian with 1423 after leading before the final game of Squad 12. Swedish Tobais Karlsson took third spot with 1367 followed by Norway's Tore Torgersen fourth with 1353.

Another Swede and debutant, Rasmus Hagelberg topped Squad 11 earlier with an impressive 1412 ahead of Frederik Ohrgaard of Denmark in second with 1403 - the only two to surpass the 1400-mark.

"Playing was easy as I managed to bowl with same idea whole game," said Hagelberg. "I used only two balls during my six games. Result was although a suprise, because this is my first EBT tournament. I have bowled some Supersix tournaments in Sweden."

Others who have qualified from this squad were Danish Frederik Öhrgaard, Swedish Marcus Henkriksson and Englishman Paul Moor. Also Samuli Tiainen's 1348 and Nina Flack's 1348 are close of the cuts, which is at the moment 1346.

Meanwhile, Finn Ville Holmstrom scored the tournament's first perfect 300 during the second game of the opening Squad 10. But he only managed a six-game total of 1224 which landed him in 28th position.

Four more squads remain in the final day of qualifying on January 8. The Top 48 will qualify for the 8-game Step 1 finals on Sunday, January 9. The top 16 will advance for the round-robin matchplay finals over 15 games plus a position round with pins carried forward from Step 1 finals.

Thirty pins will be awarded for a win and 15 pins for a draw. The top 4 at the end of Step 2 finals will advance to the steplader finals.

The third and fourth seed will play one match and the winner will meet the second seed for another match. The winner will then face the top seed in the one-game title match to decide the champion.

Photos courtesy of Tali Bowl.

6th January, Helsinki: Americans dominated the fifth day of qualifying rounds at the Brunswick Ballmaster Open 2011 as Carolyn Dorin-Ballard led compatriots, Chris Loschetter and Sean Rash to a 1-2-3 finish in Squad 8.

Carolyn Dorin-Ballard of USA improved her earlier score of 1324 with 1367 en-route to topping Squad 8 on the fifth day of the qualifying rounds. The American had lines of 248, 214, 231, 234, 180 and 212 for a scratch score of 1319.

With 48 pins handicap, Carolyn moved up from 21st position overnight to 12th positions with her superb effort. She led compatriot, Chris Loschetter who finished second with 1333 followed by Sean Rash on 1331 giving the American trio the top 3 positions.

"My carry was better today. I played with less surface balls and more from the right, said Carolyn. "I figured out that the ball must go smoothly. I had only one 180 game, so better than earlier."

Finn Petri Lehtonen led Squad 7 with a splendid 1396 in his first attempt to take up seventh position in the overall standings. Ari Halme, who finished second to Petri, improved his earlier effort of 1325 with 1346 to move up to 14th overall.

"It is pretty great to get into finals," said Petri Lehtonen. "This is my first attempt so I cannot complain. Closest one has been one pin of the cut."

Meanwhile. Finn Juhani Tonteri topped the final squad of the day with 1320 from his earlier best of 1296 and improved his standings from 36th to 25th position in the overall standings.

England's Raymond Teece and Olli Kovanen of Finland finished second and third with 1316 and 1315 respectively. Estimated final cut remained as 1334.

Photos courtesy of Tali Bowl.

5th January, Helsinki: Tuesday was a good day for Teppo Ryhänen after the Finn rolled 1406 in the evening squad of the Brusnwick Ballmaster Open 2011 to move up to fifth position in the qualifying leaderboard.

Already having bowled two squads with very little impact, his third squad started off with a sizzling 278 and two back-to-back 243 to put him on course for a good score. Ryhänen ended with 213, 203 and 226 for a total of 1406.

"I bowled a new ball on Thursday just for this tournament but it wasn't the best," said Ryhänen. "I changed the new ball only in the middle of my game and made the changes too late.

"Today I played much better and I could follow my game plan better and also the ball worked perfectly. Sunday is the finals but first must qualify. So the results is good."

PBA pro bowler and Team USA member, Carolyn Dorin-Ballard started her qualification with 1324 plus a handicap of 48 pins. Carolyn only landed in Finland Tuesday morning.

"I slept a couple of hours before the game and I just couldn't wait to check the condition.," said Dorin-Ballard. "My game varied very much, a 170 and a 287. But I love to be here, although it is very cold!"

Carolyn Dorin-Ballard will be conducting a seminar for women at Tali bowl before resuming her qualifying rounds to improve her position and to ensure she makes the finals.

Osku Palermaa of Finland continued to lead the standings with 1467 ahead of compatriot, Krista Pöllänen in second with 1412. Belgian Gery Verbruggen occupied third spot with 1411 followed by Pasi Uotila of Finlans, 1 pin away in fourth.

Photos courtesy of Tali Bowl.

2nd January, Helsinki: 2009 World Games champion, Krista Pöllänen of Finlans became the first women to lead a squad at the Brusnwick Ballmaster Open 2011 after snatching pole , just 1 pin from Belgian Gery Verbruggen.

Pöllänen started off well with 231 and 235 before rolling 215 after three games. She bounced back with 237 and 213 before winding up Squad 4 with 233 for a six-game total of 1412. Three bowlers were within 3 poins as Verbruggen and Uotila finished with 1411 and 1410.

"I just played better bowling in the morning," said Pöllänen. I opened a bit the surface of the ball, and I managed a good first game. The game plan was to bowl in a very straight line. I even had some luck at first and fifth game, when the pins felled down at the important places. I'll bowl still again on Saturday."

Meanwhile Mika Määttä of Finland bowled 1348 to win the earlier Squad 3 but fell short by 2 pins from yesterday's leading score. The estimated cut was 1337 so the Finn's results may be enough to secure him a spot in the finals.

"I made couple of stupid open frames, otherwise my game went just fine and ball reaction was good," said Määttä. "Just have to to be at my best. I shot 277 into last game, so you must not give up until the end."

Panu Nurmilo and Arttu Sadeharju posted 1323 and 1318 to take up second and third spot while World Men's Championship Team silver medalist, Pasi Uotila managed 1294 for fourth position. Jarmo Ahokas rounded up the top 5 with 1287.

The Top 48 will qualify for the 8-game Step 1 finals on Sunday, January 9. The top 16 will advance for the round-robin matchplay finals over 15 games plus a position round with pins carried forward from Step 1 finals.

Thirty pins will be awarded for a win and 15 pins for a draw. The top 4 at the end of Step 2 finals will advance to the steplader finals.

The third and fourth seed will play one match and the winner will meet the second seed for another match. The winner will then face the top seed in the one-game title match to decide the champion.

Photos courtesy of Tali Bowl.

1st January, Helsinki: Two-time EBT winner, Osku Palermaa kicked off the first European Bowling Tour leg to win the Early Bird squad of the Brunswick Ballmaster Open 2011 underway at Tali Bowl on new year day.

Palermaa started off the second squad of the opening day with 203 followed by 236 and 243. The two-handed Finn then fired 269, 257 and 259 to end the squad with 1467 taking over the lead from Squad 1 leader, Kimmo Lehtonen.

Perttu Jussila also surpassed the 1400-mark by downing 1408 to finish second while Jouni Helminen took third spot with 1393.

"I've been sick for a while, so it was nice that I could scored over 1400," said Palermaa. "I may rest a bit before next week squad. I'll still play on Friday or Saturday. My game started with regular 200.

"After second game I changed to a ball which I drilled on Thursday. After that I didn't have to change anything. Brunswick Ballmaster Open is remarkable tournament and it is always pleasure to bowl it. And of course, winning of it is my goal and what I want."

In the opening squad mostly comprising of youth bowlers, Kimmo Lehtonen of Finland topped the squad with 1354 to lead Perttu Jussila in second with 1339 followed by Samu Valaranta third with 1337.

"Perhaps it was a bit stranger than previous years as I've been involved as organiser," said Lehtonen, who is competing as a bowler. "Anyway the feeling to go and bowl again at Ballmaster tournament was great and expecting.

"The feeling lighted up when I walked into Tali Bowl and got to the lanes. It was nice to bowl and my game went smoothly. Certainly it was nicer to start with the result like that. It will then be seen, if I qualify, because it was only first squad. At least I found some idea how to bowl."

The Brunswick Ballmaster 2001 is the first stop in this year's busy European Bowling Tour. The tournament is also the first World Bowling Tour leg which will allow the paticipants to earn ranking points toward the inaugural world tour.

Qualifying comprises of 15 squads which will run through to Saturday, January 8 and the finals will be held on Sunday, January 9.

Photos courtesy of Tali Bowl.