June is probably the most exciting month for Maltese bowlers with various important events culminating in the National Bowling Championships, supported by Bank of Valletta.
The BOV National Championships were played at Eden Superbowl, attracting a record 28 participants competing for the most coveted title in local bowling.
Mauro Anastasi, 32, defended his 2017 title in style to win his 4th national champion title in the last 7 years, whereas young starlet Sara Xuereb re-took the title she lost to multi-titled Sue Abela last year in a possible power-shift in the ladies’ local game.
Anastasi and Xuereb were presented the coveted trophy by Mr Ernest Agius, Chief Operations Officer at Bank of Valletta.
Congratulating the national champions, Mr Agius said that the Bank is pleased to give its support to a sport that constantly performs well and wins medals on an international level.
“This sport is also nurturing a healthy group of youths who are already establishing themselves both in the local scene as well as on an international level. Evidence of this is this year’s female national champion, who has won this title for the second time at such a young age as well as the positive performance of male youth bowlers in this competition,” he said.
Details of the Competition
Xuereb led from start to finish in the tournament, exerting early pressure with a good 1651 set for Day 1, followed by Cynthia Duca (1534) and Abela (1519).
Abela then shot a great 1687 on Day 2 to narrow the gap to Xuereb to 40 pins. Sara Xuereb held her own with a decent 1595 set.
The final day saw Xuereb starting out strongly, consolidating her lead on Abela.
Despite a late upsurge from Abela, Xuereb managed to stave her off and emerged victorious with a 4874 total, followed by Abela on 4800. Melissa Swift completed the podium in third place.
In the men’s section, Anastasi immediately signalled his intentions to defend his title, shooting a superb 1786 series in Day 1, followed by Justin Caruana Scicluna on 1665, and Neil Sullivan on 1659.
2016 Champion Caruana Scicluna started Day 2 with a bang, overturning the deficit on Anastasi midway through the set.
A strong finish by Anastasi allowed him to tie level with Caruana Scicluna, both bowlers on 3500 total, setting up a thrilling Day 3 finale.
Unfortunately, Caruana Scicluna was forced to retire through injury, effectively handing the title to Anastasi, who nonetheless shot another great 1760 set, finishing with a 5260 total.
Veteran Mark Spiteri earned second place with a 4937 total, whereas Neil Sullivan finished in 3rd.
Both national champions will now represent Malta in the European Champions Cup 2018 to be held in Langen, Germany between the 22nd and 29th of October.