The Malta Open Championships got underway at the Eden SuperBowl, St. Julian's yesterday this being the 14th consecutive event since inception in 1992.

Close to 250 top class bowlers have been attracted to the tournament, hailing from no fewer than 22 countries, namely Azerbaijan, Belgium, Canada, Cyprus, Denmark, England, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Israel, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Russia, Scotland, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, Wales and of course Malta.

The sponsors of the event are Eden Leisure Group and also Air Malta and the Dragonara Casino, St. Julian's. There was also appreciation for the Malta Tourism Authority who have again provided flights and accommodation for two international Tenpin Bowling journalists; Keith Hale (Bowlers Journal Magazine, www.bowlersjournal.com) and Eric Hayton (Editor of Go Tenpin Magazine).

Julian Pace Bonello, founder and President of the Malta Tenpin Bowling Association said this edition will be the Open's sixth consecutive participation in the EBT, and in fact the Malta Open is one of only two European events that have been included in the tour since it began in 2000.

The Malta Open was then opened in the traditional manner, with John 'JJ' Janawicz rolling an inaugural frame, who easily picked off nine pins.

Janawicz has been flown in from the Kegel corporation in the USA specifically for the event, and will be handling all lane conditioning and maintenance throughout.

This follows the recent installation of a brand new Kegel Kustodian Plus lane machine. Competitive play began straight after the official proceedings and continues through the qualifying rounds until the thrilling finals on Sunday afternoon.