Plenty of 'carry' for Paco Rodriguez who hails from Madrid today, coming down the home straight with 235 to complete his sextet with 1395, disappointed by missing four 10-pins which cost the overall lead for Spain and a chance of a third 1400-plus.

It was thought, for a time, that Panu Nurmilo from Finland was the squad 9 champion as he posted 1388 at the other end of the house, a score that would have won most of the squads, but he ended runner-up to Rodriguez and his wife, Mari, placed sixth on this squad.

Defending champion Larsen still struggles and only finished in 24th place this time.

Unusually, 13 of the 28 competitors on this squad were women.

"I am very happy with my game today," said Rodriguez, 28, in excellent English for his post squad interview, "I have been bowling really well in the last few weeks. If I had to say something bad about my game today it is that four times I missed the 10-pin and that is the reason I did not beat 1400. Anyway, I did not bowl any low games, all were 215 and over nd the high was 268. So I am very happy to wn the squad for a place in the finals.

"I have bowled the Catalonia Open many times and I won it maybe the second or third time, before it was an EBT event. I think I have only missed it once.

"Barcelona is the closest EBT event for me. It is a 600 km drive. The next closest is Paris but to get there I need to take a plane.

"I had to play our local league on Thursday night which finished around 10.30, so then had to drive straight to here and play at 9 in the morning. Today I was more relaxed and played much better. I'm bowling great and I hope that tomorrow I can be at the top."

STANDINGS AFTER SQUAD 9:

P	Player	Federation	1	2	3	4	5	6	Pins	Hdcp	Total
1	Ghislaine v/d Tol	Netherlands	180	244	248	215	230	240	1357	48	1405
2	Jesper Agerbo	Denmark	248	248	192	236	278	201	1403	0	1403
3	Paco Rodriguez Suances	Spain	215	227	217	268	233	235	1395	0	1395
4	Panu Nurmilo	Finland	267	234	175	224	230	258	1388	0	1388
5	Brian Voss	USA	254	236	204	235	213	245	1387	0	1387
6	Joline Persson Planefors	Sweden	236	206	179	245	221	249	1336	48	1384
7	Ildemaro Ruiz	Venezuela	236	268	202	188	226	246	1366	0	1366
8	Lisanne Breeschoten	Netherlands	202	203	269	179	279	184	1316	48	1364
9	Gery Verbruggen	Belgium	227	202	221	258	217	236	1361	0	1361
10	Or Aviram	Israel	225	182	222	236	279	213	1357	0	1357
11	Anders Lousdal	Denmark	200	237	244	243	238	193	1355	0	1355
12	Yoan Alix	France	209	181	237	256	198	258	1339	0	1339
13	Laurence Gaillard	France	224	206	197	234	166	258	1285	48	1333
14	Marcial Ovide Marron	Catalonia	235	197	186	221	246	235	1320	0	1320
15	Joonas Jehkinen	Finland	256	185	217	246	214	202	1320	0	1320
16	Priscilla Maaswinkel	Netherlands	185	266	200	245	190	186	1272	48	1320
17	Kenneth Bland	USA	185	205	230	204	234	258	1316	0	1316
18	Vincent Cayez	France	197	258	215	237	216	190	1313	0	1313
19	Clara Guerrero	Colombia	214	216	214	236	182	202	1264	48	1312
20	Rebecka Larsen	Sweden	222	227	256	188	194	176	1263	48	1311
21	Jean-marc Samain	Belgium	246	235	244	187	213	182	1307	0	1307
22	Heidi Thorstensen	Norway	237	191	181	222	181	245	1257	48	1305
23	Peder Grimsen	Sweden	207	225	208	249	227	188	1304	0	1304
24	Paul Stott Jr	Ireland	239	210	234	199	237	182	1301	0	1301
25	Wendy Kok	Netherlands	237	234	207	161	213	199	1251	48	1299
26	Bianca Wiekeraad	Netherlands	213	219	234	179	223	180	1248	48	1296
27	Nicki Ainge	England	257	199	212	171	203	205	1247	48	1295
28	Alexander Medvediskov	Russia	183	230	234	190	182	268	1287	0	1287
29	Tobias Karlsson	Sweden	268	167	232	195	213	212	1287	0	1287
30	Thomas Larsen	Denmark	171	218	233	231	236	194	1283	0	1283
31	François Sacco	France	213	226	214	206	213	205	1277	0	1277
32	Mari Nurmilo	Finland	209	217	210	166	222	204	1228	48	1276
33	Kirsten Penny	England	221	214	189	178	244	180	1226	48	1274
34	Hector Roca Roig	Catalonia	248	221	211	196	245	149	1270	0	1270
35	Carmen Haandrikman	Netherlands	213	197	191	215	243	162	1221	48	1269
36	Mikael Kanold	Sweden	217	179	214	205	203	244	1262	0	1262
37	Diana Zavjalova	Latvia	210	194	194	200	178	231	1207	48	1255
38	Melvin Ocando	Spain	204	226	181	226	210	207	1254	0	1254
39	Fredrik Tjernes	Norway	201	203	233	200	213	192	1242	0	1242
40	Pierre-Yves Gonze	Belgium	201	214	255	149	236	187	1242	0	1242
41	Jean-Marc Lebon	Belgium	175	234	194	216	196	225	1240	0	1240
42	Artur Colomer Soler	Catalonia	208	233	194	225	158	207	1225	0	1225
43	Ron Bogaard v/d	Netherlands	182	222	140	217	238	222	1221	0	1221
44	Mathias Arup	Sweden	176	202	222	161	245	215	1221	0	1221
45	Marilyn Planchard	France	178	187	188	191	207	221	1172	48	1220
46	Pierre-Luc Sanchez	France	241	214	200	171	192	201	1219	0	1219
47	Luza Leal Gonzalez	Catalonia	188	203	201	156	232	189	1169	48	1217
48	Antonio Araújo	Portugal	215	216	204	180	227	172	1214	0	1214
49	Cheska Tomas	Netherlands	206	204	181	164	200	209	1164	48	1212
50	Arturo Rueda	Colombia	200	192	191	254	201	163	1201	0	1201
51	Lucas Legnan	Argentina	196	223	217	172	169	223	1200	0	1200
52	Tommaso Radi	Italy	181	218	225	178	199	196	1197	0	1197
53	Moises Perez	Catalonia	198	215	191	180	216	194	1194	0	1194
54	Simon Wildenhayn	Germany	141	197	180	279	203	193	1193	0	1193
55	Monica Lislien	Norway	186	178	214	186	191	190	1145	48	1193
56	Nicole Sanders	Netherlands	179	211	215	188	192	160	1145	48	1193
57	Javier Moreno	Spain	203	190	181	181	224	213	1192	0	1192
58	Axel Guimo Miranda	Catalonia	191	225	198	182	189	204	1189	0	1189
59	Sophie v/d Meer	Netherlands	148	193	197	202	201	198	1139	48	1187
60	Rosa Mas Puigros	Catalonia	169	208	173	195	193	190	1128	48	1176
61	Camilla Lindqvist	Sweden	212	185	160	198	170	193	1118	48	1166
62	Raul Galvez Galisteo	Catalonia	173	181	214	179	212	202	1161	0	1161
63	Joan Piqué Reig	Catalonia	183	171	189	209	205	200	1157	0	1157
64	Sandra Torrents Pelaez	Catalonia	213	188	200	162	183	162	1108	48	1156
65	Raul Jimenez Carrión	Spain	156	190	204	200	207	192	1149	0	1149
66	Isabelle Sacco	France	176	187	178	186	170	203	1100	48	1148
67	Giorgio Bodis	Hungary	223	161	206	179	168	210	1147	0	1147
68	Mark Jacobs	Netherlands	199	160	146	218	247	177	1147	0	1147
69	Alexandre Vahidi	Iran	160	250	214	145	179	196	1144	0	1144
70	Francisco J Suarez Ferrero	Spain	199	199	150	223	194	179	1144	0	1144
71	Larry Vontobel	Switzerland	195	146	176	171	204	244	1136	0	1136
72	Diego Peña Noble	Catalonia	206	167	182	209	183	189	1136	0	1136
73	Alvaro J Cardona Rosell	Catalonia	178	185	190	205	162	213	1133	0	1133
74	Ferran Puerta Sardo	Catalonia	218	136	177	166	228	203	1128	0	1128
75	Pilar Perales Alcacer	Catalonia	154	192	147	217	180	190	1080	48	1128
76	Sven Lindahl	Sweden	158	215	191	200	174	190	1128	0	1128
77	Pere Sadurni Escolfet	Catalonia	170	182	233	209	153	181	1128	0	1128
78	Alvar Cardona Burgués	Catalonia	233	199	166	169	232	126	1125	0	1125
79	Yuri Medvediskov	Russia	214	186	197	147	206	172	1122	0	1122
80	Jochi Estevez Ruiz de la Castañeda	Catalonia	208	210	179	158	192	161	1108	0	1108
81	Mark Hinchliffe	Ireland	212	183	158	147	186	218	1104	0	1104
82	Ruta Tumileviciute	Lithuania	156	158	221	163	169	177	1044	48	1092
83	Carlos Marti Pi-figueras	Catalonia	171	171	170	194	186	199	1091	0	1091
84	Xavier Ecoffey	France	226	157	218	198	113	177	1089	0	1089
85	Cristina Sanz Moreno	Catalonia	162	167	172	213	179	147	1040	48	1088
86	Mats Maggi	Belgium	194	187	188	180	156	181	1086	0	1086
87	Ellen Jansen	Netherlands	154	169	178	164	199	174	1038	48	1086
88	Javier Mas	Switzerland	190	198	198	127	196	175	1084	0	1084
89	Lorenzo Sanmarco	Italy	190	176	213	145	184	166	1074	0	1074
90	Sergi Montaña	Catalonia	187	156	189	190	161	185	1068	0	1068
91	Emilio Ruggiero	Italy	175	173	145	178	184	199	1054	0	1054
92	Francisco Hernandez	Catalonia	177	209	155	154	182	176	1053	0	1053
93	Daniele Di Giovani	Italy	184	173	147	194	176	170	1044	0	1044
94	Ignazio Cerami	Italy	160	156	191	157	198	180	1042	0	1042
95	Jordi Marti	Catalonia	162	182	115	204	177	188	1028	0	1028
96	Istvan Polgar	Hungary	188	165	125	204	167	153	1002	0	1002
97	Noelia Rastrero Medina	Catalonia	161	145	185	152	185	126	954	48	1002
98	Ingrid Julià Inglés	Catalonia	120	154	188	157	201	131	951	48	999
99	Meritxell Sanchez	Catalonia	197	155	136	165	180	118	951	48	999
100	Patrick Guerre	Catalonia	170	165	183	142	151	181	992	0	992
101	Agapito Carrasco Ventura	Catalonia	160	191	154	146	164	171	986	0	986
102	Cedric Regenass	Switzerland	161	152	177	164	182	149	985	0	985
103	Lia Mojarro	Catalonia	163	162	124	131	189	167	936	48	984
104	Daniel Alberti Corominas	Catalonia	160	118	125	213	185	163	964	0	964
105	Robert Mills	Catalonia	177	121	169	149	168	178	962	0	962
106	Oscar Coll Boldó	Catalonia	190	138	136	167	178	150	959	0	959
107	Natercia Gouveia	Portugal	145	164	148	180	151	116	904	48	952
108	Jordi Tubella	Catalonia	106	142	138	158	189	146	879	0	879