Falzon Reale rolls perfect 300 game

Ray Falzon Reale, a national squad member, realised every tenpin bowler's dream recently at the Eden SuperBowl, when he achieved the ultimate 300 game during a Companies League match between his team, Enemalta, and opponents IPSE Ltd.

More amazing still was that his perfect game formed part of a staggering run of 23 strikes in a row over the three-game series.

"I was struggling to find the strikes in the first nine frames of game one," he said after the match, "but I managed a turkey (three in a row) in frame 10 for a score of 158. After that, the strikes just kept coming."

Falzon Reale rolled 300 (12 in a row) in game two, for 15 consecutive strikes, and then went on to take another eight in as many frames in game three to make it 23.

After a nine-miss in frame nine, he struck out again in the 10th for a game total of 267 to round off an excellent 725 series.

Falzon Reale, a welder with Enemalta Corporation, has managed the illusive 300 before in training. This is his first one in competition and his feat has also been recognised and sanctioned by the Malta Tenpin Bowling Association.

Dennis Mercieca took the honour of being the first ever Maltese bowler to roll a perfect game during a Honda National League match in February 1998, and has since had a second, again in the National League, in May 2002.

The only other 300 game played in competition by a Maltese bowler to date is that of Frank Vella. He lives and competes in England. Vella's perfect game was played in June 2001 during a league match.