The eighth World Games will be played between late July and August in Cali, Colombia.
One of the many disciplines included in this gargantuan festival of sports in South America will be tenpin bowling.
Malta will be represented by Melissa Swift and Justin Caruana Scicluna, the pair having qualified recently in a selection tournament which was run by the Malta Tenpin Bowling Association at the Eden SuperBowl.
The World Games are held every four years and the 2013 edition is set to comprise no fewer than 36 events, ranging from artistic roller skating to more traditional team sports.
Tenpin Bowling will fall into the ‘Precision Sports’ category alongside billiards, bowls and field archery.
Incredibly, more than 70 nations will be participating at the Cali World Games.
The MTBA qualifying event was played over three days and three eight-game sessions.
It was Kenneth Arpa who occupied the top spot after Day One on a sound 1,776 tally, 98 pins ahead of Caruana Scicluna (1,678) with Danial Swift third on 1,606.
Arpa did well to hang on to his advantage through the second session but Day Three proved to be a real thriller with Caruana Scicluna also vying for the top spot. After a total of 23 games from 24, Arpa’s lead was cut to a mere three pins.
Pressure may have got to the two-day leader as he then shot his lowest game of the tournament, a 159, which was eclipsed by a solid 223 from Caruana Scicluna, enough to bag the top prize by 61 pins – 5,010 to Arpa’s 4,949.
Swift was classified third on 4,764.
Sue Abela is not used to settling for second place but that is exactly what she had to do in the women’s tournament after an inspired Swift display.
Swift showed supreme consistency in her opening games, her lowest game in the series coming in game eight (180) which rounded off a 1,642 for the day.
Abela was 93 down and Joanna Attard was third on 1,475.
All three challengers fared slightly better on Day Two, but Swift was more than able to stave off any attack from Abela, still leading after 16 games on 3,341.
The pace dropped only marginally but Swift wasn’t about to let her chance at glory slip away. She clocked out on a 4,881 total with Abela behind on 4,698 and third-placed Attard on 4,410.
The trip of winning duo Caruana Scicluna and Swift will be funded by the MTBA with the support of the MOC and KMS.