Second-placed okmalta.com halted Ramis’s recent and seemingly unstoppable winning streak, beating them 8-0 in the top match of week 17 at the Eden Superbowl.

Third-placed Globalair went down 6-2 to Fina as did bottom team The Clan to Royal Shock. In other matches, there was a 100 per cent victory for PharmaVet over Turu’s Knights and another 8-0 win for HSBC against fellow relegation candidates Gladiators.

Long-term leaders Ramis faced one of their toughest challenges to date, as they met okmalta.com in this penultimate week of the two qualifying rounds. It was an epic clash, with both teams scoring well from the opening salvos, but it was okmalta.com who took an early lead with a close 836-816 game one win.

They then shot an excellent 908 in game two, doubling their advantage in spite of Ramis’s solid 845 game score.

Game three saw okmalta.com complete the whitewash with an 823-795 final win.

Globalair started in second place against Fina but dropped to third place with a 6-2 defeat, along with okmalta.com’s big win.

It was Fina who drew first blood, taking the opening game but Globalair replied with a 791-797 win. Fina responded with their best game of the set, winning the decider 865-743 to take the all important series points (2,503-2,334).

Meanwhile, in the previous report, it was erroneously stated that Fina could not field a full team for their match against okmalta.com, wherein it was agreed that each team would play with only two players.

In fact, it was okmalta.com who had only two bowlers available for the fixture, and their opponents Fina agreed to also play with just two players, rather than the usual four, as a gesture of good sportsmanship. The match was won by Fina 8-0.

Bowlers of the week: Kenneth Arpa (Ramis, 686); Sue Abela (Fina, 647).

Standings: Ramis 108, okmalta.com 98, Globalair 90, Fina 84, Royal Shock 60, PharmaVet 60, Turu’s Knights 58, HSBC 40, Gladiators 40, The Clan 30.