Friday Frolics

Just two squads take to the lanes of Baix Bowling in the suburbs of Barcelona today, the smaller group of 12 at 16:00 and then a full squad of 24 at 20:00.

Defending champion Nicole Sanders of the Netherlands takes her first shot at a double title in the earlier squad, along with fellow countrywomen Ghislaine van der Tol, Wendy Kok and  Bettina Lund, Danish national team members Kamilla Kjeldsen and Rikke Holm Rasmussen. Finland has a small family with Reija Lunden and daughter Roosa, Tiia Hakamaki and Sanna Pasanen. Lone Frenchwoman Laurence Gaillard will try to uphold the triumphs of the tricolor.

Past champions: 2005 Zara (Glover) Giles, England; 2006 Kirsten Penny, England; 2007 Tennelle Milligan, United States; 2008 Kirsten Penny, England; 2009 Nicole Sanders, Netherlands.

Plenty of international talent to watch in the later squad as several stars of the lanes join the fray. Malta's Sue Abela, record medalist in the Mediterranean Challenge Cup; Denmark's World Ranking Masters and Brunswick euro Challenge champ Britt Brondsted; current top EBT ranked player Nina Flack from Sweden; Sofia Granda from Guatemala: Eva Jonsson from Sweden; double European Women's Master champion Kirsten Penny fom England and Mexico's Aserat Zetter, A to Z, were on parade.

It was Danish delight when the scores of the second squad of the tournament were announced and Kamilla Kjeldsen was named as the tournament leader. Her 1333 hit the headlines despite a lowly 178 in the fifth game, but a final 255 made up for that. Second place goes to defending champion Nicole Sanders on 1265 and third to Ghislaine van der Tol.

"This is my third time in the European Women's Masters," Kjeldsen told us. "I think my best finish was fourth or fifth back in 2007. I just love coming to the Barcelona tournaments. This year I used the same ball through all six games, but I had to change my line a lot. There was quite a difference between lanes 3/4 and 7/8. I will bowl again tomorrow on the 13:00 squad."

Now the 20:00 squad take over and they now know the target to beat.

It was Nina Flack from Sweden who led the field over the first three games with 660 but she didn't maintain that pace, moving pairs of lanes after each game and it was Rebecka Larsen Jr of gothenburg, Sweden who topped the squad with 1323 and slotted into second place in the overall standings, ten pins aback of Kamilla Kjeldsen.

"This is my second time that I have played this event," stated Larsen Jr. "I was runner-up to Nicole Sanders here last year. I hope to do better this time."

Is it true that you use the Junior after your name because you bowl with Rebecka Larsen at home? "Yes, Rebecka is the sister of Martin Larsen and we bowl on the same team so I use junior after my name so that we don't get confused."

The next squad plays at 9:00 am on Saturday morning and will be followed by squads at 13:00 and 17:00. Then the top 24 will qualify for the final rounds.

STANDINGS AFTER SQUAD 3: