The eighth edition of the Mediterranean Challenge Cup (Medicup) was officially opened yesterday afternoon at the Eden SuperBowl, St Julian’s. The tournament is being held in Malta this year to mark the 30th anniversary of the Malta Tenpin Bowling Association, and a total of eight nations are taking part, namely; Cyprus, Gibraltar, Greece, Israel, Italy, San Marino, Spain and Malta.

Kicking of the event, Neil Dent, SuperBowl General Manager and Tournament Director, thanked all participants, officials and guests for attending, before the eight teams involved formed a flag bearing procession on the bowling lanes. Dent went on to introduce Julian Pace Bonello, Honorary President and founder of the MTBA.

Mr Pace Bonello began by welcoming all of the delegations to Malta for the tournament on behalf of the MTBA in this landmark year, and went on to thank the various entities who have assisted and supported the association in the organisation of the Medicup, especially Easy Forex, the Kunsill Malti ghal-Isport and also Middlesea Valletta Life Assurance. He also thanked the MTBA committee for their help, in particular Neil Dent for his invaluable cooperation. Mr Pace Bonello closed his short speech by thanking all of the participants for coming to Malta for this annual event.

Franco Azzopardi, Chairman of Kunsill Malti ghal-Isport, then addressed those attending the ceremony, thanking the participants and congratulating Mr Pace Bonello and his committee on their association’s 30th anniversary and thanking them for their dedication to tenpin bowling and considerable contribution to local sport over the years. Mr Azzopardi then went on to officially declare the Mediterranean Challenge Cup VIII open.

Yesterday saw an official two-hour practice session for all eight teams, followed by a tour of the cities of Valletta and Mdina, organised by the Malta Tourism Authority.

The competition starts this morning with the singles and doubles events for both the ladies and mens divisions, and continues tomorrow with the team event. Malta has high hopes for success for the home team consisting of Kenneth Arpa, Mark Spiteri, Sue Abela and Lorraine Casha, as Malta currently lies at the top top of the medals table after the seven previous editions, boasting sixteen gold medals, just one ahead of Greece.

Play starts at 9am and the public is welcome to watch the live action for free at the Eden SuperBowl, and all results and information will be posted at www.edenleisure.com/superbowl (‘Tournaments’ section) after each session.