Menno van den Heuvel, 39, from s'Hertegenbosch in the Netherlands came into the final rounds after a squeaker in the
Desperado squad last night, bowling 218 to tie for fourth place. He came through that tie by placing higher in the qualifying standings so took his place in stage 1 of the finals this morning.
He was a different player this morning, opening with 247 and followed with 223, 224 and 269 to lead the squad and advance to the second round. Almost a fairytale ffor the flying Dutchman.
"I'm pretty satisfied with my bowling today," said Van den Heuvel. "The lanes are similar to yesterday. I changed balls as they were very shiny. Before the Desperado squad last night I made them dull, scuffing them up a little, so now they seem to be going the right way.
"It's going to be a tough day to go all the way, especially with the air conditioning failing. I hope I can make it through the 19 games."
The top 12 from this 18-strong squad progress to stage two. They will be joined by positions 7-12 from yesterday's qualifying standings. After four games the top six will be joined by original qualifiers 1-6 for the 12 -strong round robin for an eleven game session. Then the leading four contest the stepladder final.
FINALS - STAGE 1 (Top 12 qualify for Stage 2):
| Name | Nat | Hcp | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Score | Total | |
| 1 | Menno van den Heuvel | NED | 0 | 247 | 223 | 224 | 269 | 963 | 963 |
| 2 | George Stavrinou | CYP | 0 | 202 | 256 | 199 | 213 | 870 | 870 |
| 3 | Rankin Camilleri | MLT | 0 | 223 | 213 | 204 | 214 | 854 | 854 |
| 4 | Matt Chamberlain | ENG | 0 | 164 | 258 | 188 | 225 | 835 | 835 |
| 5 | Bigi Manico | SWI | 32 | 181 | 224 | 191 | 197 | 793 | 825 |
| 6 | Bo Winther | DEN | 0 | 203 | 233 | 165 | 202 | 803 | 803 |
| 7 | Ray Falzon Reale | MLT | 0 | 189 | 212 | 199 | 185 | 785 | 785 |
| 8 | Jos Bakker | NED | 0 | 233 | 160 | 182 | 209 | 784 | 784 |
| 9 | Tommy Reinhold | DEN | 0 | 200 | 182 | 222 | 176 | 780 | 780 |
| 10 | Kyriakos X'ttofis | CYP | 0 | 205 | 160 | 227 | 183 | 775 | 775 |
| 11 | Lee Cocker | ENG | 0 | 208 | 207 | 175 | 182 | 772 | 772 |
| 12 | Cliff Dew | ENG | 0 | 171 | 254 | 136 | 209 | 770 | 770 |
| 13 | Conan Mackey | IRL | 0 | 152 | 225 | 177 | 203 | 757 | 757 |
| 14 | Beat Grauwiler | SWI | 0 | 214 | 179 | 146 | 191 | 730 | 730 |
| 15 | Christis Christou | CYP | 0 | 178 | 167 | 180 | 183 | 708 | 708 |
| 16 | Ovind Norhagen | NOR | 0 | 166 | 190 | 155 | 192 | 703 | 703 |
| 17 | John Balani | MLT | 0 | 182 | 152 | 155 | 197 | 686 | 686 |
| 18 | Loukas Evripidou | CYP | 0 | 167 | 142 | 203 | 162 | 674 | 674 |
| Name | Ctry | HC | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Score | Aver | Total | |
