The Mediterranean Champion-ships, now in their 18th edition and this year hosted by the Hellenic Bowling Federation in Chania, Crete, came to a close yesterday with the Maltese team winning two gold medals and a silver.

Team Malta picked up gold in the mixed team event and Sue Abela claimed the Ladies All Events final as Mark Spiteri rounded up a fine day for the team with a perfect 300-game and later a second place in the Masters.

The team – Abela, Tiziana Carannante, Mauro Anastasi and Spiteri – also smashed the tournament record for a highest game.

Malta started the day needing to improve on their 2,313 total to have a chance at a medal.

They started with solid determination after a 199 from Carannante, 232 from Abela and a 233 from Anastasi.

The star of the show, however, was Spiteri. He rolled 12 strikes in a row for a maximum 300 score and every bowler’s goal.

That gave Team Malta an incredible 964 total for the game which was better than the previous team record – 939 pins that belonged to Greece.

That shot Malta straight up to the top of the rankings but Greece were still snapping at their heels.

After a good 807 in game five, Malta led by a mere 19 pins heading into the final game.

But Spiteri was on a high, shooting a 225 to complete a 744 series.

His team-mates complimented that with a 202 from Abela, a 204 from Anastasi and 219 from Carannante for an 850 team effort and a 4,834 final total.

Greece could only muster a fair 790 to finish on 4,755. Third place went to Slovenia on 4,736.

The All Events standings – the individual categories based on each bowler’s scores from the four events played – saw Spiteri qualifying in sixth place in the men’s category for the Masters Finals with 4,792 pins.

In the final, Spiteri played Slovenia’s Grabrijan Anze.

Anze took the first game 217-201 and then made sure of the gold by securing the second 203-190 for a 420-391 match win.