The 30th edition of the European Gold Cup, held in Foetz, Luxembourg, has produced Malta’s first ever champion in this annual event, again confirming the discipline of tenpin bowling as one of the precious few sports in which our local athletes can, not only hold their own, but seriously compete and achieve highest possible awards in the international arena.

Young bowler Philippe Vancell excelled throughout the competition, fending off strong competition from no fewer than 23 other European nations all the way to the finals, and emerging as champion for 2006.

The championships started with a mixed doubles event in which Malta was represented by Vancell, partnered by Bernadette Carannante, another one of our up-and-coming youngsters. All teams played a total of six games from which the total pinfalls accumulated would decide the final team classification. Although also a hotly competed medal-bearing event, the Doubles serves as a warm-up for the singles competition, which would eventually decided this year’s European Gold Cup champions.

The Maltese did not find the going easy at first, taking some time to find their feet, but their joint effort saw them finish in a respectable 12th place with a 2,020 total.

The Doubles was won by Michalis Perikleos and Eleni Lazarou from Cyprus, who were followed by the Italian team Marco Inga and Luciana Carfaro, with James Vile and Nicole Prout for team England picking up third place.

In the ladies singles event, Ben Carannante got off to a nightmare of a start in round two, opening with demoralising games of 129 and 127 which greatly dulled her spirit. Although she fared better over the next few games, Ben settled for 16th place to go no further in this, her first experience in a major international event away from home, although surely not her last.