Squad 8 finished the penultimate day of qualifying with Ildemaro Ruiz of Venezuela winning the session to advance to Sunday’s finals, stroking his way to a total six-game pinfall of 1366.

Ildemaro ruiz

After 1400s in yesterday’s closing squad and today’s early morning opener, the last three squads have been lower scoring affairs. However, winning squads is a bonus and quick pass to the final rounds but as there is no Desperado squad, fifty per cent of qualifying pinfall is carried through to the final rounds, so the better the scoring the better it will be in the finals.

Ruiz started with 236 and then hit his high of 268 in the second game. Maybe he was robbed of a 1400-plus series with a drop to 188 on lanes 9/10.
Ken Bland, an American now living in Norway, came second to Ruiz on this squad, suffering bad start of 185 but then picking up speed to finish with 1316.

“I like coming to Europe from Venezuela and really enjoy the tournaments here,” ruiz told us. “This is the second time I have bowled in Barcelona, finishing sixth in the Barcelona Open, and I have competed in the Brunswick Euro Challenge four times.

“Last October I made it as a PBA member and I get a lot of help from Amleto Monacelli, who comes from the same town in Venezuela as me. He is great for me. My project right now is to bowl a lot of international tournaments. It is very expensive with travel nowadays but I do get help from sponsors and my father. Right now I get some help from Brunswick with bowling balls and a couple of squads in the Euro Challenge.”

STANDINGS AFTER SQUAD 8: