SQUAD 4 -
Thursday, 11:00
Norway's national team player Tore Torgersen
(pictured) looked good for a place at the
top of the leader board
 this
morning when he opened up his six-game stint
with 194 and 257, but he struggled on the
dual lane condition of long oil on the left
lane, short on the right. The short oil lane
saw him using a urethane ball and he seldom
missed the pocket, but still had a problem
to carry all ten pins. His eventual score of
1346, slotting him into seventh place
overall, did not reflect his accuracy and he
will be back to try, try again.
Torgersen was chased by Britt Brondsted of
Denmark, receiving the ladies' bonus of eight
points per game of course. She bowled steadily
for a 1305 total.
2007 World Ranking Masters champion, Stuart
Williams of England, is a tournament favorite
this year. He was Aalborg International champion
back in 2004 and always look dangerous to repeat
that feat. He too had a consistent six-game
series, alas with a low game of 183, but his
total of 1241 saw him in sixth place on this
squad.
There are three squads today, 11:00, 15:00
and 19:00.
SQUAD 5 - Thursday
15:00
It was Torgersen in command once again,
coming out on top in this squad despite the
presence of Swedish stars Robert Andersson,
Martin Larsen and Peter Ljung and PBA champion
Mika Koivuniemi, a Finn now living in the United
States.
Torgersen had the magic touch to roll his 33rd
lifetime 300 (pictured) with his fourth game of
this squad. "I've
 bowled
perfect games with plastic and reactive balls
but this is the first time I've hit a 300 with a
urethane ball," he said, with his broad
Norwegian smile.
His 1376 total improved his previous score by
30 pins and he now lies in fifth place overall.
"I'll take tomorrow off and wait to see what the
scores are like, especially those from the
Finnish team," he commented. "I've bowled four
times now and that should be enough."
Koivuniemi had a disappointing 1215 and is
bowling a re-entry in the upcoming 19:00 squad.
He started out with 632 over his first three
games but fell away in the home straight.
With various comings and goings, the entry
total at the moment stands at 221, equalling the
tournament record. Several late cancellations
has brought the entries down from 234.
SQUAD 6 -
Thursday 19:00
A cornucopia of goodies on the Lovvang Bowl
lanes in the last squad this evening as a bunch
of talented players had chances to set a new
high but in the end nobody was able to carry the
baton over the line.
 PBA star Mika Koivuniemi
(pictured), tied with Danish lass Rikke Holm
Rasmussen on 1354 to lead the squad but both
tripped up with a sub-200 game to rob them of
taking over control. This dual lane condition is
certainly testing the versatility of the
players.
Only one pin behind the squad leaders was Kim
Brondsted of Copenhagen, Denmark, but he too was
robbed by a few splits at the wrong moment.
STANDINGS AFTER
SQUAD 6:
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