The 4th Istanbul Bowling Open runs this year from April 23-29, once again at the hospitable 20-lane, AMF-equipped Time Out Bowling Center on the European side of the fascinating city of Istanbul, the gateway to Asia.

The tournament format calls for the standard six-game qualifiers with re-entries for eventual places 1-42 and a further six places for positions 43-48 through a single game Desperado squad on Saturday night.

It will be a mixed singles event and the women will receive a bonus of eight pins per game throughout the event.

Lane maintenance will be carried out by Kegel.

A top prize of €10,000 awaits the eventual champion on Sunday evening and money is paid out down to 48th place (€500).

Entry fees range from €70-€180, depending on the day and time of the squads and re-entries cost €60-€140.

The finals on Sunday will run from 08:00 through to the presentations at 19:00.
Defending champion is Paul Moor of England who beat Australia's Jason Belmonte (246-244) 490 - (228-194) 422  in the two-game final. Moor defeated Achim Grabowski of Germany, 428-403, to win his final place and Belmonte took out Thomas Gross of Austria, 471-430.
Onder and Duygu Gurkan at work                                                                                                      Time Out owners Serdar Erdis
                                                                                                                                                                             and Ahmet Koman
Tournament email: ibsk@istanbulbowlingopen.com

Websites: www.timeoutbowling.com and www.bowlersjournal.com.

Live coverage of the event by BJI's European editor Keith Hale from Wednesday evening.