The 2005 MTBA national champions are Sue Abela and Brian Farrugia, both having won their respective divisions in this year’s MTBA national championships held recently at the Eden SuperBowl, St. Julian’s.
The duo fought off challenges from the cream of Malta’s bowlers over a 16-game qualifying round, while the second and final round took the form of a double Round Robin between the top six in each division. This meant a total of 25 games were played before the deserving champions finally claimed their titles, the most prestigious in the local bowling calendar.
Male Section
Kenneth Arpa bows to Farrugia at final hurdle
Kenneth Arpa (national champion 2004) had led the men’s competition since the early games of the qualifying round and was favourite to retain his crown even as the five games of the first Round Robin session were completed. He won four of his five games to pick up some valuable bonus points, this staying on top ahead of Brian Farrugia who improved one position to second, while Matthew Caruana slipped to third.
It was in the second set of five that Farrugia took full control of the tournament, as Kenneth Arpa struggled. Farrugia banged in four 200+ games, finishing with a 180 but enough to give him an event total of 5323 pins, along with the championship title.
Ray Falzon moved up from fourth to second place, while Kenneth Arpa finished a disappointing third. Matthew Caruana was forced to settled for fourth place.
Female Section
Well deserved victory for Sue Abela
Realistically there were only three ladies in the running after round one’s sixteen games in the ladies event, namely Sue Abela, Melissa Anastasi (Champion 2004) and Doris Camilleri (Champion 2003) who occupied the top three positions in that order.
Abela improved her lead during her first five round robin games, picking up bonuses for four winning scores. Anastasi suffered some low games and slipped to third place, allowing Camilleri into second place.
Abela was well ahead but still put on a great display of tenpin bowling, powering her way to five straight wins and five 200+ games. This Grand Finale blew away any hopes Camilleri and Anastasi may have had for a come-back victory as Sue finished 435 pins ahead of Melissa Anastasi who managed to regain the runner-up position, Doris Camilleri finishing third.
The newly crowned national champions will represent Malta in The European Championships for individuals, which will be held in Boeblingen, Germany next September. Sue Abela is a past European Champion, having won the 1999 edition of the ECI which was held in Israel.