Martin Paulsson from Sweden became the eighth squad leader and won his place into Sunday's final rounds with 1307 in Friday night's final session. Just four more qualifying squads to take place through Saturday and then the action moves into the new format.

Thankfully, despite all the hassles of the French air traffic strikes the entry total has passed into three figures and Luz Adriana Leal's 1366 still rules the roost.

Paulsson's six-game set on tonight'sd squad included a high game of 268 but his lowly 194 in the second prevented him from beating the woman on top.

Belgium's Gery Verbruggen, who will be inducted into the World Bowling Writers' Hall of Fame on Sunday, thought that his chances of participating were slim indeed. Stuck in a huge traffic jam in Brussels this morning, he and wife Muriel arrived at the airport well after normal closure of check-in. Luckily for them, the French strike had delayed the departure of their flight by two hours, so they made it to Barcelona. Unfortunately, Verbruggen only shot 1234 and currently lies in 35th place.

Saturday's remaining squads are at 09:00, 13:00, 17:00 and 21:00. Thankfully, no Desperado squad so the qualifiers will carry forward 50 per cent of their qualifying pinfall into round one of the finals.