The 2011 edition of the MTBA national championships, newly sponsored by TENOVAR Ltd. Started last weekend at the Eden SuperBowl, organised by the Malta Tenpin Bowling Association.

Although running concurrently, the TENOVAR Junior Championships are open for those bowlers aged up to 16 years, while the TENOVAR Intermediate Championships are being contested by those in the under-23 category.

This year’s joint championships have attracted some 27 young bowlers, which is the largest field for many years. This healthy increase in participation has come about thanks to the sterling recruitment work done by the MTBA administration and coaches, as well as a significant investment in resources and facilities by the Eden SuperBowl management.

A good number of the entrants have come through from the ongoing and improved SkolaSport scheme, SkolaSajf, and also the recently reformed national squad.

The TENOVAR national junior and intermediate championships are played to tried and tested formats, with both categories playing 12 games, over two sessions, that of last Sunday and next Saturday.

The male and female TENOVAR national junior champions will be decided according to the total over those 12 games, while the top six U-23 bowlers will then advance to a second stage. Intermediate stage two will be a ‘round robin’ event comprising five direct head-to-head encounters for each qualifier. Other than the pinfall attained in each round-robin game, bonus points will also be added for wins, draws and also high games.

A stepladder final will then be played immediately after the round-robin, between the top three qualifiers, to ultimately decide the 2011 TENOVAR national intermediate champions.