The European Gold Cup championships are held specifically for tenpin bowlers of an intermediate level, and this year’s edition is being held this week at the X-Treme Bowling centre in Foetz, Luxembourg. Malta has a long history of varying degrees of success in the Gold Cup, and we are represented in this the 30th edition of the championships by two of our best youth bowlers, Philippe Vancell and Bernadette (Ben) Carannante, who will bowl in a field of some 24 European countries.
The European Gold Cup comprises two qualifying events; a six game Mixed Doubles competition, followed by an eighteen game Singles event. Awards are given to the best performers in both of these competitions, but the Singles event will also determine qualification for the following rounds where the Male and Female categories will be cut down to the top sixteen, then top eight, before the top four bowlers in each category take part in the grand finals to decide this year’s European Gold Cup Champions.
Vancell and Carannante earned the right to represent Malta in a qualifying tournament organised recently by the Malta Tenpin Bowling Association at the Eden SuperBowl, on lane conditions identical to those to be used in Luxembourg. Both bowlers improved through their twelve round one games, qualifying in third place. After a further six round two games, the order of qualification for the third ‘round robin’ stage (top six) was :
Male Section: Benny Hili, Paul Baldacchino, Nathan Brimmer, Peter Mallia, Beppe Abela, Philippe Vancell.
Female Section: Faye Formosa, Josephine Bonello, Josette Falzon Reale, Liliana Said, Ben Carannante, Tiziana Carannante
Previous pinfall was scratched for the Round Robin which incorporated a system of match points where extra pins were added to game totals to reward wins (20pins) and draws (10pins) in the five head-to-head games.
Vancell shot to the top of the male section with five straight wins, putting him ahead of Nathan Brimmer and Peter Mallia in second and third respectively. Brimmer then knocked out Mallia in the first stepladder final match, but Vancell’s determination prevailed in the final, which he won to give him the title of National Gold Cup Champion, 2006.
In the ladies’ section, Liliana Said also won all five of her encounters to top the table, with Ben Carannante in second place followed by Josette Falzon Reale in third. Ben saw off Falzon Reale in the first final match, and then faced leader Said in the ladies’ final, finishing the victor to claim her well deserved honour as female Champion.