Sue Abela and Justin Caruana Scicluna placed first in the Mediterranean Championships qualifiers ad have secured a berth in the Malta selection that will take part in the international competition that will be held on March 23.

Abela and Caruana Scicluna will be joined by Mauro Anastasi and Sara Xuereb, who both finished second in the respective qualifiers.  

The men’s competition proved to be quite a tightly contested one over a grueling three days and 24 games. The early lead went to Mark Spiteri, however Caruana Scicluna and Anastasi soon took over the lead by Day Two with both players delivering blistering performances game after game.

At the end Caruana Scicluna prevailed by a mere five pins (5205-5200), both with a great 216 average. Third place went to Philip Gruppetta, while 15-year-old Nicholas Muscat had another excellent performance finishing fourth out of the 22 men with a good 208 average.

Abela and Xuereb pretty much dominated the proceedings in the ladies event, with Abela rolling a 207 average against Xuereb’s 204.

It is interesting to note that Abela and Xuereb won the gold medal in the doubles team in the 2019 edition of the MBC. Melissa Swift ended up in third place after a great last day performance to overtake Cynthia Frendo Duca by just five pins.

The last edition of the championships were held in Malta last April, when the Maltese team hauled a record 10 medals, with a record participation of 16 countries.