Italy Senior Open 2019
ISBT Tour 2019 Stop 5
Reno Bowling, Bologna, Italy
30th June to 7th July 2019
Champions: Maria Grazia Locatella and Loris Masetti
The fifth stop on the 2019 ISBT tour was in Italy, at Reno Bowling in Bologna. This attracted an entry list of 103 competitors, some 30 bowlers less than the previous year, due to a lower entry from the home country. The format for the tournament was two six game qualifying blocks, with re-entries allowing the lowest blocks to be replaced. For those not able to qualify through the main leaderboard, there were additional opportunities through Turbo games and Early Bird qualification. Age bonus started at age 51 (1 pin per game), then increased a pin for every additional year of age with no limit. As with all ISBT events, there was a separate division for ladies.
The pattern selected by the organisers was Middle Road from the Kegel Challenge patterns. This low volume pattern, combined with the high temperatures in Bologna in July, meant many players would struggle to find a consistent line to the pocket as the lanes dried out during each block.
Qualifying started a week before finals day, and in total there were 18 qualifying squads. Many participants had played the European Seniors Bowling Championships in Bologna in the days before the ISBT, so the first squads were busier than normal with players staying an extra day or so to bowl their qualifying blocks.
At the end of Sunday, the men’s ranking was led by Hermann Wimmer from Germany, with 2677 including age bonus. Behind him was Massimo Isoppo from Italy on 2547. Martina Beckel from Germany led the ladies’ section with 2505, almost 200 pins clear of the remainder of the field.
There were more squads each evening during the week, by the end of Friday there were new names at the top of the men’s ranking, led by Dante Didonfrancesco from Italy with 2747, ahead of Serge Frouvelle from France on 2743, and Aurelio Briganti from Italy on 2694. Martina Beckel still had a good lead in the ladies’ section, with Christiane Clerc from France now in second with 2380, and Maria Grazia Locatelli from Italy in third.
There were four final qualifying squads on Saturday. In the second squad, Hermann Wimmer found another good block to move to the top of the rankings with 2772, and in the very final block, Loris Masetti from Italy bowled the second 1400+ block of the tournament to slot into second place in the overall rankings behind Hermann Wimmer. The cut at 20th place went to Federico Rossi from Italy with 2532. The top 20 men, together with 6 Early Birds, 4 Scratch and two Turbo qualifiers would go forward to Sunday’s final
In the ladies’ section, there was no change at the top in the first two squads, but in the third Rosa Del Vecchio from Belgium had a good 1212 block to move into third place, with Angie Brown from England improving her score to move ahead of Maria Grazia Locatelli and into fourth place. Only the top four ladies progressed from the overall standings, together with two Early Birds, one Scratch, and one Turbo qualifier.
The 32 male players from qualifying were then divided into four groups of eight bowlers, each playing a round robin format. The top two from each group progressed to the grand final, which was another 8 game round robin.
In the Blue group, Roger Pieters from Belgium and Patrick Rolland from France took the top two places and advanced to the final round. In the Green group Italians Luciano Lambertini and Aureilo Briganti were clear qualifiers. The Red group was also an Italian top two, with Oliver Simonian and Loris Masetti progressing. The Yellow group was won by Germans Helmut Ulber and Hermann Wimmer.
In the men’s final, Loris Masetti and Oliver Simonian edged away from the field, with Loris Masetti managing to hold on for a fine victory. Helmut Ulber finished in third place.
In the ladies’ final, it was close between Martina Beckel and Maria Grazia Locatelli. However, an excellent 222 scratch game for Locatelli, and a poor final game for Beckel gave Maria Grazia Locatelli the win. Christiane Clerc finished in third position.
The next stop on the 2019 tour is at the Dream Bowl Senior Open at Dream Bowl in Munich, Germany. The tournament runs from the 10th to 14th July, full details are available at the ISBT web site, http://www.isbtbowlingtour.eu/
Full Results here
