The 11th annual Mediterranean Champion-

ships are to be held in Chania, Crete (Greece) between 15 and 20 April. No less than ten Mediterranean nations confirmed their participation in this popular regional tournament, namely, Cyprus, France, Gibraltar, Italy, Malta, Morocco, San Marino, Spain, Turkey and of course host nation Greece.

Team Malta was decided by a rigorous qualifying event held over 24 games in three days at the Eden SuperBowl, where the eventual qualifiers emerged as Dennis Mercieca and Paul Baldacchino in the male division, and Sue Abela and Tiziana Carannante from the female competitors.

Men’s Division

Dennis Mercieca and Paul Baldacchino topped a high-scoring field.

Day one saw an ominous display from Mark Spiteri, who claimed the men’s title in the 2007 championships held in Turkey, as he took the top spot with a great 1,724 set (215.5 ave) to begin his quest to defend his title. Spiteri shot highs of 223, 244 and a great 255 to lead Neil Sullivan in second on 1658, and Paul Baldacchino in third on 1657.

The second session saw a change in the lead as Dennis Mercieca soared from fourth into the top spot, his opening 157 game being the only sub-200 effort in an impressive 1,775 series that saw him roll games of 224 twice, a 237, and a spectacular highlight game of 299 in the 14th. Mercieca was the first Maltese bowler ever to roll the ‘perfect’ 300 game and has since repeated this extraordinary feat, but for the sake of one solitary pin in the final ball of the game, it just wasn’t to be this time. Mercieca was now on 3,417 pins (213.5 ave) as Mark Spiteri dipped to second on 3,348 in the face of Mercieca’s performance, while third place was held by Ray Falzon Reale on 3,316.

With eight games remaining the male qualification was still wide open, particularly with the high scores being achieved.

The final Sunday morning session saw Dennis Mercieca hold his position to qualify in first place, his 1705 tally for the day again including seven 200+ games including a big 258, and putting on a grand total of 5,122 (213.4 ave).

Sunday however was the day for Paul Baldacchino to impress. Having dropped from third to fifth on day two, Baldacchino then managed to pull out all of the stops just when he needed to, finding his line and settling into ‘the zone’ to shoot an incredible 1,838 series (229.7 ave) to rise to second place.

His eight game total has only ever been topped twice by fellow Maltese bowlers, namely Sue Abela (1,869) and Ray Falzon Reale (1,851). Baldacchino’s tournament total was 5,085 (211.8 ave) which put him just 26 ahead of Mark Spiteri on 5,059 (210.7 ave), the latter being left to contemplate the inevitable open frame or two that made all the difference, during what was another otherwise strong performance from Spiteri.

Ladies Division

Sue Abela, Tiziana Carannante have won the right to represent Malta in Chania

There was little doubt that Sue Abela would once again figure in Team Malta for this year’s Mediterranean Championships: she is not only Malta’s most accomplished bowler, male or female to date, but also the most prolific medallist ever throughout the ten year history of the event.

Sue led the ladies division from game one, and after eight games was already way ahead of the field with her 1,756 set (219.5 ave), including games of 223, 244 and an excellent 255. That put her 351 pins ahead of nearest challenger Tiziana Carannante on 1,405 (175.6 ave), while Liliana Said, a first timer in these qualifiers lay third on 1,385 (173.1 ave).

Abela gave a more sedate performance during the second block of eight, with low games of 147 and 171 giving her a 1,496 total for the day, 3,252 (203.2 ave) to date and ahead of the pack by 326 pins. Carannante still held second on 2,926, after a better day two showing of 1521 pins to boost her game average to a very good 182.8, and Said also held her position, 223 down on Tiziana on 2,703 (168.9 ave).

Nothing short of disaster could have halted Sue Abela’s romp to qualification, and she was in championship form for the third and final set of eight.

Six 200+ games, which included a fantastic 279 in game 19, quickly followed by a 256 in the 20th, made for a 1,756 series and a 5,008 (208.6 ave) finishing total.

Carannante kept her head to hold on to second place with a 1464 set, finishing on 4,390 (182.9 ave) and securing her ticket to Chania this April. Joanna Attard, who had been nursing a neck injury throughout the tournament, managed a good 1,543 session to move up to third place on 4,235 pins (176.4 ave).

The 11th Mediterranean championships will be competed over varied events, such as men’s and ladies’ Singles, Doubles events and also a Team of Four competition, culminating in the men’s and ladies’ Masters’ Finals which will be contested by the top overall performers resulting from the other events.

Malta has hosted these championships on two occasions, first in the second edition back in 1999, and more recently in 2005 as part of the MTBA’s 30th Anniversary celebrations.

Malta is also currently top of the overall medal table to date, holding 22 gold medals ahead of 20 for Greece, this year’s host nations, who will certainly be gunning for Malta to try and topple our athletes from their deserved top spot. No doubt Team Malta will, as always, be up to the challenge.