Strong competition among youngsters

The Malta Tenpin Bowling Association recently held the National Youth and Junior Championships at the Eden SuperBowl.

The eventual winners were Matthew Caruana and Tiziana Carannante (U-23) and Ryan Grima and Sabrina D'Emanuele (U-16).

Caruana led the male division for youths from early on and qualified for the 'round robin' stage with a 3,061 total. Rankin Camilleri was second ahead of Justin Caruana Scicluna. Also making it to round two were Ryan Grech and James Vassallo.

In the next stage, Caruana picked up three wins from five for an extra 60 points, rolling highs of 222 and 205 to secure a place in the final. Joining him in the stepladder were Camilleri and Grech.

The semi-final between Camilleri and Grech was won by the former 222-181. Then in the final, Camilleri got the better of Caruana 181-245 to force a second game. Caruana hit back to win that one 174-145, which was all he needed to claim the title.

In the women's competition, Carannante got off to a shaky start but showed a marked improvement in the second session, rising to second place with a 2,633 total, 24 pins down on Stephanie Said who qualified for round two in first place.

Ben Carannante went through in third place and the other qualifiers were Annemarie Bonello, Jade Cosaitis and Cynthia Duca.

The round robin stage was where Tiziana really stepped up her game, winning three of her five encounters for valuable bonus points, and also rolling a high game of 237. She made the finals in first place on 2,335 pins, ahead of Said and Ben Carannante.

Said's performance during the tournament was deserving of a place in the final against Tiziana, which she achieved by overcoming Ben 184-155 in the semi-final.

Said then went on to win game one of the final against Tiziana, the younger of the Carannante sisters, 143-181. Game two commenced, the winner to claim the title, and it was Tiziana who took the driving seat. She won it 200-151.

Junior event

For the U-16 tournament, there was a slightly different format, with all competitors playing 12 games in round one.

In the boys' section, Grima was the leader after six games but changes were to follow. Matthew Cossai moved ahead after 12 games on a 1,718 total and Cedric Farrugia second on 1,682. Grima was third ahead of Gabriel Borg, Melvin Galea and Rosario Leone.

Cossai excelled throughout round two, winning all five of his matches which included great games of 193 and 213, to remain top seed and book his place in the final match. Farrugia and Grima also made the next stage.

Farrugia was eliminated in a thrilling semi-final by just one pin, 151-152 by Grima. Top seed Cossai waited for the boys' final match, in which it was Grima who calmly picked up the first game 133-160. Cossai needed to claim game two to prevail, and came extremely close but just couldn't do it, as it fell to Grima by just two pins - 167-169.

In the girls' division, the Day One leader was Christabel Grima followed by Mekeala Borg and D'Emanuele. It was all change again after Day Two, as D'Emanuele grabbed top spot after a better session, going through on 1,408 pins. Grima qualified in second place and Borg was third.

D'Emanuele was favourite in the semi-final against Borg, and she won it 136-100 to make the final against Grima. D'Emanuele needed two wins and made her first step by easily taking game one 95-155. She then went on to take game two 104-128 to earn her title.