Standings after Squad O - Saturday 08:00

Thomas Gross of Vienna, Austria (pictured) topped this morning's opening squad with 1277 to hit the qualifying table in 15th place.
One of the elite European octet to travel to Orlando, Florida next week for the World Ranking Masters, the Gross family might set something of a record as wife Ivonne has also qualified in the ladies' eightsome for that prestigious event.
There are just three more squads to complete the qualifying rounds today, plus of course the late night Desperado squad for six to come through the back door.
 

Standings after Squad P - Saturday 12:00
Nikolay Ovchinnikovs of Riga, Latvia (pictured) put in his bid for glory by being top of the P squad with 1375 to win himself a place in the eagerly sought after top eight. The 21 year old student from Riga had one small hiccup with a 169 in his second game but came back with a 264 and 278 in the fourth and fifth games.
Nikolay is a regular competitor on the EBT and that long, seemingly unpronounceable name regularly crops up in the top section of the standings. "This is my second trip to the Istanbul Open and I've made the cut twice." he commented. "Although I like it here, I can't say that I have a favorite tournament on the Tour. I just want to get into the top eight of the men's European rankings so that I can represent Latvia in the World Ranking Masters. It would be great if we could have a ranking event in Latvia."

Standings after Squad Q - Saturday 16:00

It had to come .... and the honor of hitting the first 300 of this year's Istanbul Open goes to Dor Schpeizman (pictured), 18, of Givatem, near Tel Aviv, Israel.
In his eight-year bowling career, student Dor has just one previous perfect game, so is mighty pleased to hit his second in the penultimate qualifying squad on his first visit to the Istanbul Open.
Unfortunately, Dor's other five games were those of the lowly kind, so his five minutes of fame settle on just that 300. He also failed to beat his previous high of 1157.
Maybe he will get a chance to get into the top echelon in either the final squad or among the Desperado's.
England's Paul Moor was top of the squad, compiling 1379 with the high opening game of 257. He now holds fourth place overall.
"If he gets a 7-10 split in the tenth frame of the last game, he'll still be in the top eight, but below me," cracked compatriot Stuart Williams. His forecast did not come true as Paul had a 208.
 

FINAL QUALIFYING STANDINGS:
Positions 43-48 to come from the Desperado squad.
 

RANK	PLAYER	GEN	NAT	BEST 6 GAMES						HND	TOT	AVR	1st
1	FRAWLEY ANDREW	M	AUS	232	243	256	208	243	259	0	1,441	240.17	0
2	NICKELS JENS	M	GER	203	209	247	258	278	203	0	1,398	233.00	-43
3	BELMONTE JASON	M	AUS	234	246	209	235	267	190	0	1,381	230.17	-60
4	MOOR PAUL	M	ENG	257	215	247	236	216	208	0	1,379	229.83	-62
5	AVİRAM OR	M	ISR	213	223	264	225	214	238	0	1,377	229.50	-64
6	OVCHINNIKOVS NIKOLAY	M	LAT	245	169	205	264	278	214	0	1,375	229.17	-66
7	WILLIAMS STUART	M	ENG	224	226	208	233	222	249	0	1,362	227.00	-79
8	SASSEN MICHAEL	M	NED	279	190	194	210	224	259	0	1,356	226.00	-85
9	ALM EMELIE	F	SWE	197	224	213	240	206	225	48	1,353	225.50	-88
10	PARSHUKOV ALEXEY	M	RUS	257	223	238	198	219	215	0	1,350	225.00	-91
11	SHIENMAN MOSHE	M	ISR	224	213	204	264	207	236	0	1,348	224.67	-93
12	GUNTHER KAI	M	GER	188	267	245	206	201	222	0	1,329	221.50	-112
13	AGERBO JESPER	M	DK	195	216	188	215	265	244	0	1,323	220.50	-118
14	PALERMAA OSKU	M	FIN	210	235	200	162	267	246	0	1,320	220.00	-121
15	LAZARIDI MAKHMUT	M	KZK	205	257	170	225	225	221	0	1,303	217.17	-138
16	BERGES MATHIEU	M	CH	226	199	166	205	209	296	0	1,301	216.83	-140
17	PENNY KIRSTEN	F	ENG