The 2016 MTBA Gold Cup, held at the Eden SuperBowl, attracted an encouraging turnout of 44 intermediate-level bowlers.

Cynthia Duca and Paul Gray were the winners of the tournament, featuring two separate divisions and adopting a handicapping system to ensure a level playing field.

Duca has seen a steady improvement in her game thanks to a disciplined training regime, under the coaching tandem of Mark Spiteri and Dennis Mercieca.

She took the lead after the six-game series on day one and stayed in front ahead of the round robin where pinfall totals were halved.

Duca only had one slip-up, losing her second match with a low 160, but won the other four to obtain some valuable bonus points over and above some good game scores. That kept Duca in top position and assured her of a spot in the final.

The other two finalists were Juliana Bonanno and Liliana Spiteri, who both won two of their five head-to-heads.

Bonanno prevailed in the semi-final, beating Spiteri 176-166 to qualify for the final, knowing that, as the lower seed, she would have to beat Duca twice in order to win the Gold Cup.

The second game wasn’t necessary in the end as Duca won it in one very tight game, 192-190, to retain the title she won in 2015.

As was the case in the women’s event, Gray, making a comeback to the bowling scene, established a lead over the 30-strong male field during the opening day, and practically never looked back.

Gray was slow to find his pace in the round robin but picked up to win four from five and remain top seed.

Luke Burke shot up from sixth to second place, also with four wins and some impressive game scores.

The last spot in the men’s finals went to Nick Mangion. Burke carried his form into the semi-final with Mangion, easily winning it 215-144 to earn his spot in the final. It was Gray who claimed the honour after seeing off Burke194-180.

Apart from their titles and trophies, Duca and Gray received prizes totalling €600 in cash and MTBA tournament vouchers, while the runners-up were awarded a free entry into a national tournament of their choice.