Team Malta for Chania event

The 11th Mediterranean Championships will be held in Chania, Greece from April 15-20. No fewer than 10 countries from the region will take part in this annual tournament, namely, Cyprus, France, Gibraltar, Italy, Malta, Morocco, San Marino, Spain, Turkey and host nation Greece.

Team Malta was selected at the end of a qualifying event comprising 24 games over three days at the Eden SuperBowl.

The eventual qualifiers were Dennis Mercieca, Paul Baldacchino, Sue Abela and Tiziana Carannante.

On Day One, Mark Spiteri, who captured the men's title in the 2007 championships held in Turkey, produced a brilliant display. He stormed to the top with a superb 1,724 set to begin his title defence in style. Spiteri led Neil Sullivan, 1,658, and Baldacchino, 1,657.

The second session saw a change in the lead as Mercieca soared from fourth to first, his opening 157 game being the only sub-200 effort in an impressive 1,775 series.

Mercieca was now on 3,417 pins as Spiteri dropped to second on 3,348. Ray Falzon Reale was third on 3,316.

With eight games remaining, the men's qualification issue was still wide open. The final Sunday morning session saw Mercieca retaining his position to qualify in first place, his 1,705 again featuring seven 200+ games including a big 258, and putting on a grand total of 5,122.

Sunday, however, was the day for Baldacchino to impress. Having dropped from third to fifth on Day Two, he then managed to pull out all the stops just when he needed to, finding his line and settling into 'the zone' to roll an incredible 1,838 series and rise to second place. His eight-game total has only ever been topped twice locally by fellow Maltese bowlers Abela (1,869) and Falzon Reale (1,851).

Baldacchino's tournament total was 5,085 which put him just 26 ahead of Spiteri, 5,059, the latter being left to contemplate the inevitable open frame or two that made all the difference.

Women's qualifiers

There was little doubt that Abela would once again earn a place in Team Malta. She is the most prolific medallist ever throughout the ten-year history of the championships.

Abela dictated the pace in the women's division from Day One. After eight games she was already way ahead of the field with her 1,756 set, including games of 223, 244 and an excellent 255. That put her 351 pins ahead of nearest challenger Tiziana Carannante on 1,405.

Liliana Said, a first timer in these qualifiers, was third on 1,385.

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 to date and ahead of the pack by 326 pins.

Carannante still held second on 2,926, after a better Day Two showing of 1,521 pins to boost her game average to a 182.8. Said also held her position, 223 down on Tiziana - 2,703.

Nothing short of disaster could have halted 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 superb 279 in game 19, quickly followed by a 256 in the 20th, made for a 1,756 series and a 5,008 finishing total.

Carannante kept her head to hold on to second place with a 1,464 set, finishing on 4,390 and securing her ticket to Chania in April.

Joanna Attard, who had been nursing a neck injury, managed a good 1,543 session to move up to third place on 4,235 pins.

Malta hosted the championships on two occasions, in 1999 and then 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.