It was 16-year-old Daria Kovalova from the Ukraine ho hit the headlines in squad 2, the Friday afternoon squad of the European Women's Masters at Bowling Pedralbes in Barcelona, pipping Laurence Gaillard of France for the honors in the tenth frame of the sixth game, 196-170, to win the squad.

There were just a dozen desperate competitors on this squad, most of the girls preferring to fit into the later 19:00 edition. Overnight leader Clara Guerrero played her second entry but only managed 1168 this time, well down on last night's 1286.

Kovalova played here last year at the tender age of 15 but has rallied to up her game over the past twelve months. "Of course, I look forward to coming to Barcelona, I enjoy it here very much," she said. "I was really excited when I got the news that I was to be playing here. I live in Moscow now so I am able to bowl many tournaments, as many as I want. Of course, I have a very good coach, and that is my mother, so that is very good for me as I don't get to be afraid of my coach.

"Recently I played in the World women's Championships in Hong Kong and enjoyed that very much and the tournament was very successful for me as I had an average of 218, which was good."

Once again, Catalonia's Sandra Torrents took third place, this time with 1189 to beat her previous 1172.

Fellow Catalan star, Luz Aana Leal, who will represent Catalonia in the upcoming QubicaAMF World Cup in South Africa, had a downturn in fortune to place seventh on the squad with just 1120, so last night's 1266 is her best to date.

A full squad, probably with a waiting list, goes ahead at 19:00 local time.

STANDINGS AFTER SQUAD 2:

VII EUROPEAN WOMEN'S MASTERS PRESIDENT SAMARANCH TROPHY

 

PROVISIONAL QUALIFICATION

 

P	Player	Federation	1	2	3	4	5	6	Pins
1	Clara Guerrero	Colombia	224	201	205	225	232	202	1289
2	Luz Adriana Leal	Colombia	179	235	173	278	218	183	1266
3	Daria Kovalova	Ukraine	208	186	227	223	206	196	1246
4	Laurence Gaillard	France	156	248	214	256	191	170	1235
5	Sandra Torrents Pelaez	Catalonia	180	179	183	185	244	218	1189
6	Jenny Wegner	Sweden	191	197	186	172	219	196	1161
7	Josefine Linderoth	Sweden	222	164	208	174	166	200	1134
8	Sanna Pasanen	Finland	185	178	174	167	215	207	1126
9	Ida Andersson	Sweden	172	212	201	182	173	176	1116
10	Rosa Mas Puiggros	Catalonia	147	213	204	163	169	199	1095
11	Roser Romero Burgos	Catalonia	203	146	181	180	206	143	1059
12	Francisca Nu�ez Hernandez	Catalonia	137	209	168	158	166	206	1044
13	Eva Jonsson	Sweden	205	169	161	178	150	168	1031
14	Lia Mojarro Postigo	Catalonia	157	153	158	202	167	184	1021
15	Hakamaki Tiia	Finland	171	154	208	166	178	142	1019
16	Sandra Oliva Tudela	Catalonia	176	155	179	179	163	158	1010
17	Ingrid Julia Ingles	Catalonia	158	184	150	155	188	140	975
18	Irene Molera Teruel	Catalonia	129	146	160	228	171	135	969
19	Francisca Melendez Bejar	Catalonia	159	164	133	119	192	189	956
20	Meritxell Sanchez Lloansi	Catalonia	158	145	128	178	138	180	927
21	Merc� Burgues Flamarich	Catalonia	149	155	149	147	171	151	922
22	Elisabet Cejudo Justo	Catalonia	138	167	144	165	117	157	888
23	Noelia Rastrero Medina	Catalonia	129	146	159	149	135	155	873
24	Sandra Barange Villavecchia	Catalonia	163	115	146	144	132	140	840