Masterful Abela beats Sullivan in close final

The Malta Tenpin Bowling Association has just held its fourth Masters event at the Eden SuperBowl.

The top eight seeds this year were Sue Abela, Kenneth Arpa, Paul Baldacchino, Rankin Camilleri, Justin Caruana Scicluna, Ray Falzon Reale, Mark Spiteri and Neil Sullivan. They were joined in round two by qualifiers Joanna Attard, Mauro Anastasi, Dennis Mercieca and John Balani.

Champion Sullivan headed the standings with a great 1,230 total, making him the only bowler to average over 200 on the day (205.0). He was joined in the next round by Abela (1,190), Falzon Reale (1,184), Baldacchino (1,169) and Arpa (1,167).

Attard was the only one of the four underdogs to survive in sixth place, playing above her form for a good 1,139. The last of the third-round eight spots at stake were claimed by Caruana Scicluna and defending champion Spiteri.

The penultimate stage was a seven-game ‘round-robin’. All bowlers again started from zero, and apart from their game scores, there were also bonus points up for grabs.

Sullivan earned plenty of extras thanks to four victories as he also racked up fine games of 225, 235, 254 and a superb 278. That kept him in first place with a gross total of 1,778, ahead of Caruana Scicluna (1,761), Abela (1,758) and Arpa (1,699) who progressed to the best-of-three knock-out finals.

Sullivan took on Arpa in the first semi-final and only two of the three games were required for the former to see off his opponent. Game scores of 183-169 and 207-168 booked Sullivan a place in the final.

Young Caruana Scicluna had the formidable task of facing his mother Sue Abela, in the other semi-final. He was not overawed, taking a thrilling opening game 237-231.

Abela then relied on her vast experience to take game two with a 184-effort, as Justin stumbled with a dreadful 128, making it one-all. The third and final game was better for both, but it was Abela’s greater consistency that clinched it, as she won 226-182.

The final saw Sullivan take the early lead thanks to a solid 232-207 opening win. Again, Abela managed to make it all square after two, with a tight 198-192 equaliser.

The in-form Sullivan was finally stopped in his tracks, the third game going Abela’s way 214-171 and so adding the latest title of Masters champion to her seemingly endless list of honours.