The 2011 TENOVAR National Championships have been completed at the Eden SuperBowl, and attracted a good field of 15 boys and girls in two respective divisions.
The new champions, decided over two six-game sessions for a 12-game total, are Philip Gruppetta and Michaela Briffa.
The tournament was sponsored by TENOVAR Ltd., and organised by the Malta Tenpin Bowling Association.
Boys’ Division
This year’s Junior (U-16) championships also included the participation of several tenpin bowlers from the Special Olympics Malta squad, one of whom, Philip Gruppetta would be eventually crowned the 2011 champion in the boys’ division.
Gruppetta was ahead of the field from the very first game, a great 186 effort, and he ended his first session with a 953 tally (160.2 average) to lead the event by no less than 232 pins ahead of Kyle Burke on 721, and Matthew Agius on 716.
Day two saw Philip continue from where he’s left off, shooting an even better series of 1030 pins including a high 196 game. That put him on a final winning total of 1983 (165.9 ave), to claim the title of 2011 TENOVAR National Junior champion, boys’ division.
Matthew Agius finished as first runner-up on 1,430 pins, while Luke Burke followed in third with 1,425, only one pin ahead of twin brother Kyle in fourth place (1,424).
Girls’ Division
Michaela Briffa had to settle for third place after her first session, as she missed out on the 100 pin mark in her first four games, before rounding off with a 104 and 122 in the fifth and sixth for 602 after six.
It was Juliana Bonanno who led the girls’ competition after day one with her 632 interim total, while Raquel Xuereb lay second on 629.
The competition was still wide open at the beginning of day two, which saw a great fight back by Briffa who was in much better spirits, this time never dipping below the 100 mark and rolling highs of 137 and 141.
A good 756 on the day meant a 1,358 final total (113.6 ave), which handed her the championship title thanks to her 60 pin advantage over second placed Sara Xuereb. Early leader Bonanno came in third on 1,283, with Raquel Xuereb in fourth on 1,277 pins.