LADIES QUALIFYING, FIRST 6 OF 24 GAMES - SHORT OIL:
Wednesday, Sept. 1 - 09:00

A PETTY SOLUTION

It took a lissome lass from Germany to work out the best line to use on this morning's short oil condition in the opening squad of the ladies' division in the European Cup Individual. Tanya Petty (pictured), a 27-year-old secretary from Heidelberg, currently working in Vienna, Austria came out atop the 34-player field, despite the difficult condition, with the creditable score of 1,258 over the six games, hitting individual games of 214, 159, 222, 194, 245 and 224.

"This is the third time that I have bowled on the short oil pattern," she said, after the first of the four qualifying squads. "The first two attempts were only learning sessions, so it is much easier now. I played the first three games with a sanded ball but switched to a pearl over the last three and that went a lot smoother. I can't say that I like this condition and really prefer the more normal long oil."

Second-placed Bigi Manico of Switzerland had the opposite opinion. "I really love short oil," she said. "When necessary I can increase the ball speed and that is a big advantage. It also helps me that there is only one other left-hander in the field, the defending champion, Heta Allen from Finland."

An early bid from French champion Isabelle Saldjian fizzled out over the last two games where she only managed 164 and 163.

High game of the day goes to Christina Fotinia of Greece with a 248 in her final game to improve her position from 32nd to 19th.