Late 2007 saw the 30th edition European Champions?Cup ehich was held in Foetz, Luxembourg, where no less that 41 nations were represented by their current National Champions in both the male and female divisions.
Team Malta’s delegation consisted of local bowling star and ex-European Champion (Israel, 1999) Sue Abela, and Ray ‘Mr. 300?Falzon Reale. The pair earned the right to compete in ECC 2007 having won the National titles in the 2007 National Championships, the most prestigious annual National tournament organized by the MTBA at the Eden SuperBowl during the tenpin bowling calendar.
Once again Malta’s bowlers did their chosen sporting discipline proud, with Abela making the final stages and placing in an excellent eight position, while Falzon Reale held his own amongst a formidable field of European Champions to place 24th overall.
The ECC format is that preferred by the majority, with each bowler playing a total of 24 games for total ‘pinfall?accumulated, to result in the top eight qualifiers from each division going through to the final stages purely on bowling merit and ability. The finals were played over ‘best of three?knock-out matches do decide the eventual European Champions for 2007.
Something which is now becoming the standard for high level bowling competitions is the use of dual lane conditions, where two different patterns are used (one long, one short) on the lanes during all stages.
Apart from the usual scenario of playing separate sessions on each condition, this year’s ECC also featured play on ‘mixed?oil, in that each pair of lanes were dressed with one ‘short?lane, and one ‘long? to truly test the bowlers' playing ability. A similar format was also utilized during the National Championships at the Eden SuperBowl in order to adequately prepare Malta’s bowlers for the conditions they would be facing in Foetz.
Ladies Division: Abela’s consistency gives results
The first block of eight games was played on short oil. Everyone has their favorite type of lane condition, but Sue Abela has the well trained ability to be able to adjust well to an array of different patterns.
Her first set saw her bowl a sound 1608 total (201 ave) which put her in tenth place, just 43 pins shy of the top eight. Sweden’s Therese Forsell took the early lead on 1751 (218.5), followed by Austria’s Patricia Klug and Tanya Pettty from Germany in second and third respectively.
The second block of eight on long oil produced an even better 1676 from Sue, putting her 7th on 3256 (203.5) and so amongst the prospective qualifiers, while the lead was snatched by Norwegian Oien Ingunn (3408, 213 ave), with Forsell now second and Tanya Petty staying third.
Abela just had to take care not to lose her head in the third qualifying block on the tricky mixed oil conditions in order to make the quarter final stage.
She shot a 1553 session to give her a round one total of 4809 (200.3), and the eighth qualifying spot, a mere eight pins ahead of Poland’s Daria Pajak in ninth. Ahead of Abela from 1st to 7th respectively were Ingunn Oien (Nor), Tanya Petty (Ger), Isabelle Saldjian (Fra), Therese Forsell (Swe), Bente Gravdal (Den), Annika Kilander (Swe), and Patricia Klug (Aut).
Sue’s Swiss adventure ended in the quarter finals where her eighth seeding meant she had to place to seed Ingunn Oein. The Norwegian took game one with a fantastic 277 effort against Sue’s 202, and then clinched game two and the match by a mere three pins (206 - 203) for Abela to settle for eighth.
Oien followed up by taking out Patricia Klug in the semis by two games to one, and then went on to claim the ultimate victory and the European crown for 2007 against Swede Therese Forsell, in a relatively easy 2 - 0 final match.
Men's Division: A sturdy performance from Falzon Reale
Winning his first National Championship was a 2007 highlight for the ever popular Ray Falzon Reale, whose list of bowling achievements both here in Malta and also abroad continues to grow. Representing Malta in the ECC as Champion was surely his greatest challenge to date, and his eventual 24th placing from an awesome field of 41 top male athletes was no mean feat.
Ray’s opening session could have been better - his 1453 total putting him in 31st. He was more than 200 pins from the all-important cut, but all was not yet lost with another sixteen games still to play.
A much better second set total of 1637 pins saw Ray shoot up to 23rd place on 3090 (193.1 ave), but the top eight was now even further away, presenting Falzon Reale with a mammoth task in the third and final eight-set. That saw him roll a 1485 tally, taking his round one total to 4575 (190.6 ave), finishing in 24th.
Italy’s Marco Reviglio was the top seed in the final stages, and he saw off Dimetrios Karetsos 2 - 1 in the quarter final, before earning a place in the finals with another 2 - 1 victory over Finland’s Petteri Salonen in the semi final. Austria’s Thomas Gross (3rd seed)awaited him in the finals, but it was to be the Italian’s day. He won it in two straight games for his 2007 European Title.
The Maltese contingent was aided by the Malta Tenpin Bowling Association and backed by the Malta Olympic Committee in order to participate in the 30th European Champions?Cup. The Eden Leisure Group also provided adequate training facilities and conditions at the Eden SuperBowl to ensure suitable preparation for Malta’s representatives.