A team representing Malta, made up of Sue Abela, Melissa Anastasi, Brian Farrugia and Ray Falzon Reale have just returned from a two week trip to Melbourne, Australia, where they competed in the third bi-annual Commonwealth Tenpin Bowling Championships, hosted by Tenpin Bowling Australia at the OzTenpin Bowling Centre. The team was accompanied by Team Manager Leli Baldacchino, as well as Mr. Julian Pace Bonello, founding President of the Malta Tenpin Bowling Association, and also President of the Commonwealth Tenpin Bowling Federation. No fewer than sixteen Commonwealth nations took part in the Championships, namely, Australia, Bahamas, Brunei Darussalam, Canada, Cyprus, England, Gibraltar, Guernsey, India, Jersey, Malaysia, Malta, New Zealand, Northern Ireland, Pakistan, Scotland and Wales.
The Championships featured varied competitions such as Singles, Doubles, Mixed Doubles and also Team events, while individual overall performances would decide the male and Female Masters classification and Finals. Malta’s bowlers once again proved their considerable ability in the international arena during the Championships as the Ladies Doubles pairing of Sue Abela and Melissa Anastasi scooped a pair of silver medals by coming second place, both also making it to the final Masters stages, while Ray Falzon managed to place a very good seventh in the Male Masters.
Sisters Sue Abela and Melissa Anastasi are a very familiar partnership, with the ability to play off and compliment each other during competition. Their superior confidence served them well during their six games where, in spite of a couple of low individual efforts, they managed to rise to second place with a great 2349 total, peaking with a joint 482 in game five, the highest team game of the event. They were second only to the English duo of Fiona Banks and Katie Jowsey who took gold by only 70 pins (2419), while third place went to Australia represented by Ann-Maree Putney and Tracey Madden.
The Male competition was very tough, and both Farrugia and Falzon Reale seemed to struggle with the lane conditions, rolling rather low to finish in fifteenth place.
In the Mixed Doubles, Malta fared quite well with the teams of Farrugia/Abela and Falzon Reale/Anastasi placing in twelfth and thirteenth positions from the total of 32 teams. Remarkably, both teams finished on identical totals of 2307, as did Wales 2 who took the fourteenth spot, the positions being sorted out by tournament rules specifically for a tie situation. The event was won by England 2, with Australia 1 in second place and compatriots Australia 2 in third.
Malta’s best solo performance in the Singles Events was that of Sue Abela, who played to a good 195.8 average (1175 total) to finish in ninth place from 32. Anastasi was not far behind, finishing in 12th place with a 1144 tally (190.7 average). The division was won by Australia’s Ann-Maree Putney, followed by Caroline Lagrange from Canada, with Malaysian Choy Poh Lai finishing third.
Ray Falzon placed a respectable thirteenth from 32 in the Male Singles after shooting a 1140 six-set (190 average), while Brian Farrugia came finished 18th on 1103 (183.8 average). Englishman John Zadel took the Gold medal, while Bahaman Sonith Lockhart clinched Silver and Australian George Frilingos took the Bronze.
Team Malta felt they should have made the medal podium again in the Team Event, as they finished fourth having only missed out on third place. While the foursome played well as a team for the major part, their six game series did feature some notably low individual games, which made a huge difference in the end. They finished on a 4757 total, a mere 39 down on Team England who robbed Malta of third with their 4796 effort. Canada won the Team event and Australia took second place.
Three of the four Maltese athletes made the top twelve to qualify for the final Masters events thanks to their solid overall performances, namely Falzon Reale (qual. 12th) in the Men’s section, and both Abela (7th) and Anastasi (12th) in the Ladies section. These are competed over two ‘round-robin’ sessions featuring bonus points for game wins and ties.
While our girls found the going tough in the Ladies Masters - Anastasi finishing 11th, and Abela 12th - Ray Falzon Reale looked set to take the Men’s division by storm during his first block of six. Although only winning two of his head-to-head encounters, his consistent high-rolling saw him shoot from twelfth all the way to third place with a real chance of making the stepladder finals (top 3). Sadly that was not to be however, as Ray’s second block of six saw his game suffer a little, leaving him in seventh place. A fantastic individual performance nevertheless.
The Ladies Championship was eventually won by Fiona Banks from England, while the Men’s title stayed at home in Australia, going to George Frilingos.
The Maltese team were supported by the MTBA, and also the Malta Olympic Committee. The Eden Leisure Group sponsors the MTBA’s National Coaching Scheme, which has facilitated adequate preparation for team Malta prior to these Commonwealth Championships.