The 16th annual Malta Open Championships rolled off at the Eden SuperBowl yesterday, finishing on Sunday after five days of top class tenpin bowling from around 200 international sportsmen and women, all hoping to walk off with a share of the EUR25,000 cash prize fund on offer.
Nineteen nations as diverse as the USA, Russia, Kazakhstan, Latvia Hungary, as well as other European countries such as Sweden, Germany, Italy, the UK, Switzerland and of course Malta, will be represented in this ever popular stop in the European Bowling Tour (EBT 2007), which is the basis for the European Ranking System.
The Malta Open is one of only two tournaments that have formed part of the EBT since its inception in 2000, and a total of 21 top class events make up the 2007 Tour.
“Being part of ‘the Tour’ is something of a status symbol for any tournament, guaranteeing a high standard of competition for the event”, stated Neil Dent, SuperBowl General Manager, “It means that apart from those people who take part in what they know will be a very enjoyable tournament, we also attract the big names in International Bowling who are vying to top the ranking tables by the end of the year, and hopefully a place in the World Ranking Masters”
Mr Dent added: “The Masters are contested between the top eight ranked male and female bowlers from the three International ‘Zones’ of Asia, the Americas and Europe, and we’re very happy that this year the Malta Open is, in fact, hosting recently crowned World Ranking Masters Champion Stuart Williams from England”.
Williams fought off the challenge from 24 of the world’s top bowlers in the 2007 edition of the Masters held at the renowned Kegel Centre in Lake Wales, Florida last month, to be crowned World Champion. Dent commented, “It’s great that Stuart’s coming back to Malta to compete in the Open, having been here for the 2005 event. He’s really looking forward to it, and his presence is yet another rubber stamp on our credentials as a top class venue and tournament”.
Competition commenced yesterday, with the male and female divisions being whittled down through the qualifying rounds until the final stages on Sunday, concluding with the typically thrilling step-ladder final.
A host of past winners will be taking part, including two-time defending male champion Chris Van Damme from Belgium, and local star Sue Abela in the very tough female division.
Abela has also won the Malta Open on two occasions, and boasts a long and varied list of National and International honours, including the title of European Champion in 1999, certainly the highlight of her career to date.
Once again the Malta Open will be covered by Keith Hale, European Editor of the international publication Bowlers Journal, based in Chicago. Hale is in Malta specifically for the event, and will be keeping the B.J. website, www.bowlers journal.com constantly updated with live reports, pictures and score updates.
Mr Dominic Gall of UK website www.talktenpin. co.uk is also in Malta, for the first time, providing up to the minute online coverage of the Open’s progress, including ‘podcasts’ from the SuperBowl’s lanes during the competition, featuring interviews with tournament leaders at various stages of the tournament.
The Malta Open Championships are sponsored by the Eden Leisure Group, Air Malta and the Dragonara Casino, St. Julian’s. Spectators are welcome to go and watch the action, while all scores and other information will also be updated regularly on the SuperBowl website; http://www.edensuperbowl.com (Tournaments section)