The 43rd annual QubicaAMF Bowling World Cup comes to a conclusion this weekend at the Kontinent Bowling Centre in St Petersburg where, sadly, Malta’s hopes of one of our top athletes, Sue Abela (photo), featuring in the finals were felled in Round 3 of the tournament.
After 18 from a total of 24 qualifying games, Sue Abela was ‘on top of the world’, leading the 73-strong Ladies’ Division of this the most prestigious event in the worldwide bowling calendar. She then suffered some damaging low games including a 176 in the final six-game session of the round, which caused her to drop to fifth place after 24, but still making the cut to top 24 with ease.
The Ladies’ qualifying round was won by 21 year old Ghislaine van der Tol of the Netherlands, a name not unfamiliar to Malta’s bowling scene as Ghislaine is the 2007 Malta Open Champion. Her excellent 1,402 series saw her shoot up from ninth to the top spot on 5,179, 85 ahead of Sue’s 5,094 qualifying score.
Sue was still well in contention for a place in the top eight as the second round’s eight games commenced, until disaster struck in game two when she registered a 160 game, followed by a 166 and then a 179. Although Sue’s game rallied somewhat from then on, the damage was already done, and she bowed out of the World Cup in 13th place – still an admirable result among an awesome field of the world’s top female bowlers.
Kenneth Arpa finished the qualifying round by improving my seven places during his fourth six-game session, rising from 52nd after 18 games to 45th after 24. This was thanks to a good 1225 total to make his final tally that of 4719 (196.6 average), leaving him 280 behind the cut to top 24, but having given a very respectable overall performance in the extremely talented 86-strong men’s division.
Australian two-handed marvel Jason Belmonte continued to lead the men’s tournament, and stayed there during his eight Round 2 games also with a massive 7,644 total (238.8 average) after 32 games.
Play continues from qualification right through to the finals today. The Maltese contingent is backed by the MTBA and also the Malta Olympic Committee, while the Eden SuperBowl has provided training facilities for the bowlers representing Malta in the 43rd QubicaAMF Bowling World Cup.