Thursday's opening squad, hitting the lanes at 11:00 local time, the first of three stints for the day, saw the 2010 tournament's first perfect game, that from the gentle hands of the lithe Dane Thomas Larsen.
That perfecto brought him well up into contention and he carried forward on the crest of that wave to win the squad on 1415, 34 pins ahead of Finland's unique two-handed delivery star Osku Palermaa.
Larsen was registered for the $1,000 Ebonite prize for a squad winner wearing an Ebonite shirt and using the appropriate bowling balls, so was pleased to have the funds to enter more european Bowling tour events through this year.
"It has been three years since I made the cut here in Aalborg, so that is a pleasure," commented a very happy Dane. "Also, the last perfect game I bowled was here, also on the Thursday of the tournament. The prize means I can enter most of the big tournaments this year, so will soon sign up for Munich, San Marino and Barcelona."
Jesper Agerbo had visions of making it an Ebonite double as he chased Larsen down the straight, but he eventually ended up in third place.
Larsen now sits in second place in the overall standings, just 30 pins back from Kamilla Kjeldsen, also from Denmark.
More of the big guns are lined up for the 15:00 squad and among those is PBA star Finland's Mika Koivuniemi, taking time off from the American circuit to spend some time in europe through the summer.
TOP TEN STANDINGS AFTER DSQUAD 4:
| Pos | Name | Nat | G1 | G2 | G3 | G4 | G5 | G6 | Score | Hcp | Total | AVG | |||||||||
| 1 | Kamilla Kjeldsen | DEN | 223 | 215 | 279 | 224 | 243 | 213 | 1397 | 48 | 1445 | 240,8 | |||||||||
| 2 | Thomas Larsen | DEN | 190 | 224 | 300 | 256 | 231 | 214 | 1415 | 0 | 1415 | 235,8 | |||||||||
| 3 | Jesper Agerbo | DEN | 254 | 235 | 209 | 200 | 247 | 246 | 1391 | 0 | 1391 | 231,8 | |||||||||
| 4 | Osku Palermaa | FIN | 203 | 225 | 265 | 247 | 172 | 269 | 1381 | 0 | 1381 | 230,2 | |||||||||
| 5 | Mik Stampe | DEN | 204 | 232 | 256 | 259 | 215 | 212 | 1378 | 0 | 1378 | 229,7 | |||||||||
| 6 | Mikael Brändeskov | DEN | 246 | 180 | 278 | 225 | 206 | 221 | 1356 | 0 | 1356 | 226 | |||||||||
| 7 | John Guldbäk | DEN | 242 | 238 | 200 | 229 | 239 | 202 | 1350 | 0 | 1350 | 225 | |||||||||
| 8 | Stefan Jensen | DEN | 259 | 205 | 258 | 189 | 201 | 225 | 1337 | 0 | 1337 | 222,8 | |||||||||
| 9 | Morten Olsen | DEN | 203 | 275 | 152 | 277 | 238 | 192 | 1337 | 0 | 1337 | 222,8 | |||||||||
| 10 | Johnni Adsböl | DEN | 245 | 239 | 190 | 221 | 248 | 189 | 1332 | 0 | 1332 | 222 |
