Second placed okmalta.com halted Ramis’ recent and seemingly unstoppable winning streak, beating them 8-0 in the top match of week 17. Third side Globalair were beaten 6-2 by fourth placed Fina, as were bottom team The Clan by Royal Shock (fifth). In other matches there was a 100% victory for PharmaVet against Turu’s Knights, and another for HSBC against fellow relegation candidates Gladiators.
Long term leaders Ramis faced one of their toughest challenges to date, as the met okmalta.com in this penultimate week of the two qualifying rounds.
It was an epic clash, with both teams scoring well from the opening salvos, but it was okmata.com who took an early lead with a close 836-816 game one win. They then shot an excellent 908 in game two, doubling their advantage in spite of Ramis’ solid 845 game score.
Game three saw okmalta.com complete the whitewash with an 823-795 final win. Dean Micallef (okmalta.com), 682. Kenneth Arpa (Ramis), 685, male bowler of the week.
Globalair started in second place against Fina this week, but were pushed down into third place with a 6-2 defeat, along with okmalta.com’s big win. It was Fina who drew first blood, bagging the opening game 847-794, but it was all square after two as Globalair replied with a tight 791-797 win in the second. Fina responded to that with their best game of the set, winning the decider 865-743 to easily take the all important series points (2,503-2,334). Danial Swift (Fina), 669. Neil Sullivan (Globalair), 668.
Royal Shock improved to fifth place with their 6-2 win over The Clan, who drop to the foot of the table as a consequence. The series rolled off with a strong 785-730 Royal Shock win, but then the second game saw The Clan draw level in a breath taking 828-860 score line.
Royal Shock had it easy as The Clan ran out of steam in game three, winning it 826-708 for an easy series win (2,439-2,298). Joe Cassar (Royal Shock), 644. Giancarlo Tolu (The Clan), 604.
PharmaVet climbed to sixth place, thanks to a comfortable victory over Turu’s Knights in week 17.
The Knights could have taken something from the confrontation as they lost out by only 21 points in game one (723-744), and were then 24 down in a better game two performance 810-834. But then PharmaVet made sure of all eight points thanks to their more convincing 731-786 game three win. Colin Attard (PharmaVet), 583. Tiziana Carannante (Turu’s Knights), 589.
HSBC picked themselves up off the bottom, up to eighth in the Div I standings, with a second consecutive 100% victory, this time to the detriment of Gladiators (ninth).
The bankers looked like anything but a team previously staring relegation in the face, as the games commenced in their favour: 798-760, 852-764, 790-752, for the hat-trick. Helenio Grech (HSBC), 639. Nikolai Borg (Gladiators), 619.
Bowlers of the Week
Kenneth Arpa (Ramis), 686; Sue Abela (Fina), 647
Standings - Div I, Week 17
Ramis-108, okmalta.com-98, Globalair-90, Fina-84, Royal Shock-60, PharmaVet-60, Turu’s Knights-58, HSBC-40, Gladiators-40, The Clan-30
Standings – Div. II, Week 16
Middlesea-90, Salitos-90, Spare Me Plz-78, Malta Int Airport-72, Supreme-70, J Grima & Co-70, Blitzkrieg-66, Bank of Valletta-50, 4 Play-28, Atlas Insurance-26
Correction
Week 16, okmalta.com vs Fina
In the previous report, it was incorrectly stated that it was Fina who were unable to field a full team for their week 16 match against okmalta.com, wherein it was agreed that each team would play with only two players.
In correction thereof, it was actually okmalta.com with only two bowlers available for the fixture, and their opponents Fina agreed to also play with just two players, rather than the usual four, as a gesture of good sportsmanship.
The match was won by Fina with a 0-8 scoreline.