1. VENUE

The event will be held at Lakeside Superbowl, Nuneaton, Warwickshire, England from Wednesday 2nd December to Sunday 6th December 2009.

2. SANCTION

The general playing rules and tournament rules of the British Tenpin Bowling Association will govern the tournament and it will be sanctioned by the BTBA (30/0202), ETBF and WTBA.

3. ELIGIBILITY

Only members who are in good standing with their national association are eligible to enter. Failure to produce a current B.T.B.A. or National Association Card will result in a £5.00 fine.

4. DEFINITION

The tournament shall be scratch, except that lady entrants shall receive 8 (eight) pins per game.

5. QUALIFICATION FORMAT

Qualifying consists of 6 games, with bowlers changing lanes after each game.
The top 44 players will qualify for the finals.
The players in positions 1 through 10 will be given a bye into later final rounds.

The players in positions 11 through 46 will qualify for the First Final Round.

6. ENTRY

Entries should be made at least 30 minutes before squad bowls, and at the latest by 7.30pm on Saturday 5th December 2009 and be accompanied by the entry fee. Cheques should be made payable to “PTBC”. The tournament committee reserve the right to accept or reject entries and its decision on all matters shall be final, subject to the right of appeal to the B.T.B.A.

Bowlers preferences for squad times will be considered where possible, but priority will be given to long distance travellers for the later squads on all days.

7. DESPERADO SQUAD

A 1 game shootout with the highest 4 players qualifying for the finals. Throughout the final rounds these players will be seeded 45-50  according to their positions in the desperado squad. Only players that have completed at least 6 games in the qualifying may compete in the desperado.

8. FINALS

  Final Round 1

The qualifiers in positions 11-46 and the 4 desperado qualifiers (40 players) will play 6 games starting from scratch. The top 24 will continue to the Final Round 2.

  Final Round 2

The top 24 players from Final Round 1 will play 3 games with scores carrying forward from Final Round 1.

Seeding and Matching in Final Rounds 3-7

Players in positions 1-10 from the qualification will be seeded 1-10
Players in positions 1-12 from  Final Round 2 will be seeded 11-22

In each of the matches in the remaining final rounds (3-7), the highest seeded player will meet the lowest seeded player, the second highest will meet the second lowest etc.

  Final Round 3

There will be 16 players in this round, which is the top 12 players from Final Round 2, and the players seeded 7-10  from the qualification. There will be 8 matches, best of three games.
The 8 winners will continue to Final Round 4.

  Final Round 4

There will be 12 players in this round, which is the winners from Final Round 3 and the players seeded 3-6 from the qualification.

There will be 6 matches, best of three games.

The 6 winners will continue to Final Round 5.

  Final Round 5

There will be 8 players in this round, which is the winners from Final Round 4 and the players seeded 1-2 from the qualification.

There will be 4 matches, best of three games.

  Final Round 6

The 4 winners from Final Round 5 will play 2 matches, best of three games.

  Final Round 7

The 2 winners from Final Round 6 will play 1 match, best of three games. The winner will be the tournament champion.

9. TIED GAMES

  Qualification

In the case of a tie in the qualification or the final step 1 or 2,  the highest ranked player will be the player with the highest last game. If a tie still exists the highest ranked player will be the player with the highest 2nd last game, and then 3rd etc. In the case of a tie still being unbroken, games from the previous stage of the tournament will be used to break the tie.

  Desperado

The highest positioned player will be the player with the highest position after the qualification.

  Final step 3-7
In the case of a tie in any game in any match in the final step 3-7 a one ball roll off on a full set of pins will be played, repeated until the tie is broken. For the first roll off delivery, the players will be positioned on the lanes where they ended the game. The highest ranked player after the qualification will choose the order of play. For a second roll off delivery, the players will switch lanes and the order of deliveries will be opposite to the first one etc.

There will be no handicap included in the roll off deliveries.

10. ENTRY FEE

1st Entry     £95.00          Re-Entry     £&0

All fees include £61.50 prize fund per 6 games qualifying, which will be returned in full.

Desperado £30

The fee for the desperado includes £25 prize fund, which will be returned in full.

11. REGISTRATION

All participants must register at least 30 minutes before their squad time, and present their B.T.B.A or National Association Card.

12. SCORING

Scores will be kept on official score sheets and must be
countersigned by an opponent.

13. DRESS SENSE

All bowlers will wear a suitable bowling shirt.
No jeans will be allowed.

Failure to comply may result in disqualification without refund.

14. PROTESTS

A provisional ball will be bowled in the case of a dispute. All protests must be made within one hour and confirmed in writing within 72 hours.

15. PRIZE FUND

1st Place £5,000

2nd Place £3,000

3rd - 4th £1,750 (each)

5th - 8th £1250 (each)

9th - 14th £750 (each)

15th - 22nd £500 (each)

23rd - 34th £350 (each)

35th - 50th £200 (each)

16. PLAYING SPEED

Bowlers will be expected to bowl as soon as the approaches on his/her immediate right and left are clear. Excessive slow play may result in disqualification after warning.

17. TEAM ENGLAND

Current members of the B.T.B.A. will earn Team England ranking points based on their first 6 game entry score.
First entry will be classified as the first squad bowled in chronological order.
Re-entry scores will not be used for Team England purposes.

ADDITIONAL