Volkswagen auto mechanic Eike Kabowski, 24, from near Hannover in Germany, tightened all the nuts and slipped into four-wheel drive to top Wednesday's closing squad with a score slightly under the 1400-barrier, a 1397 and a high game of 269.

That was 16 pins better than the closest challenger, Dennis Eklund who posted 1381, including the tournament's high game to date, 289.

The squad also featured two English stars, Paul Moor and Stuart Williams, the latter runner-up in San Marino last week. Moor had the edge wwith 1333 to Williams' 1252.

There were just five women on this squad and the best of the quintet was Sweden's Nina Flack, hitting 1218 including her eight points per game bonus.

"This is my second time here in Barcelona," Kabowski told us. "I remember making the cut but I can't recollect how much further than that I reached. I also enjoyed Barcelona for a holiday. I like Bowling Pedralbes, it is a small hall but it works very well."

The overall standings still have the tied lead between Ruiz and Maggi on 1424.

Cries of woe and then of joy here in Barcelona as news came through that popular Danish player Jesper Agerbo has had to cancel this year's entry due to wife Rikke Holm (nee Rasmussen) immenently giving birth to a prospective new member of the Danish federation.

Said infant was due at the beginning of July but delayed his/her arrival to coincide with the Ciutat de Barcelona, much to the dismay of Daddy, who loved the Bowling Pedralbes lanes.

As soon as the news of whether the new born is a future member of the Danish men's or women's national team is learned, it will be passed on.

Jesper, of course, is famous for being runner-up to Walter Ray Williams in the Masters of the Men's World Championships in Bangkok in 2008. Rikke Holm has a long standing crop of medals with the Danish national team.

Full results and tournament information on: www.fcbb.cat

TOP TEN STANDINGS AFTER SQUAD 3:

PROVISIONAL QUALIFICATION

P	Player	Club	Federation	1	2	3	4	5	6	Pins	Hdcp	Total
1	Mats Maggi	Les Bassins	Belgium	234	254	237	205	245	249	1424	0	1424
2	Ildemaro Ruiz	Independent	Venezuela	228	238	255	219	245	239	1424	0	1424
3	Osku Palermaa	Patteri/Pergamon	Finland	174	255	232	259	247	232	1399	0	1399
4	Eike Kabowski	Independent	Germany	252	204	222	269	255	195	1397	0	1397
5	Marcial Ovide Marron	Diagonal	Catalonia	234	235	267	217	202	234	1389	0	1389
6	Dennis Eklund	Independent	Sweden	233	289	215	216	222	206	1381	0	1381
7	Peter Ljung	Team Pergamon	Sweden	235	216	275	203	233	209	1371	0	1371
8	Paul Moor	Powerplay Pro shop	England	225	214	201	235	210	248	1333	0	1333
9	Sami Lampo	Giants	Finland	224	214	211	212	242	225	1328	0	1328
10	Moises Perez Ibañez	Diagonal	Catalonia	233	236	223	202	182	247	1323	0	1323