Dutch wonder-boy leads the way as locals hold their own

The qualification process has reached its latter stages in the 23rd edition of the Malta Open Championships which is well underway at the Eden SuperBowl, St. Julian’s, where close to 130 bowlers, hailing from 18 different nations are competing for the 2014 title.

So far in this longstanding annual event, Patrick Meka (photo) from the Netherlands leads the field, with an incredible 2910 total over twelve games, which converts to an astounding 242.5 game average.

This is the Dutch youngster’s first trip to Malta, and he created a stir on his very first appearance on the SuperBowl lanes by shooting a ‘perfect’ 300 score in his opening game on Thursday afternoon. Meka never dipped below 200 during that 6-game set, also shooting a 290 in game five, finishing with a 1471 for the day.

Patrick’s second set saw him retain his solid form, with highs of 237, 258 and another fantastic 287 in his tenth game of the tournament. A 1439 series tally put him on 2910, and safely in the top spot as the rest of the field looked to play catch-up behind this extraordinarily talented bowler.

Another Dutchman, Ramon Hilferink (runner-up in 2013) holds second place on 2848 pins (237.3 ave), while third place is currently held by Frank Selvag (2832, 236 ave), a Malta Open debutant from Norway.

Malta’s best display over 12 games to date has come from Justin Caruana Scicluna, who is in seventh place on 2721 (226.7), while other notable performances from locals have come from Mark Muscat (12th), Kenneth Arpa (13th) and Rankin Camilleri (15th).

Today is Final Day, with two more qualifying rounds in the morning, each comprising four games, which will whittle the qualifiers down to ten bowlers. They will then compete in a penultimate ‘Round Robin’ stage, wherein apart from their game scores, each bowler will also be awarded bonus points for each head-to-head victory or draw, and also further bonuses for high game scores.

The always thrilling Stepladder Finals will then be played between the four finalists after the Round Robin, do finally decide the 2014 Malta Open Champion.

Other than a trophy and the prestigious tournament title, the new champion will also walk away with a fitting share of the €12,000 cash prize fund, which is being put up by the tournament sponsors, The Eden Leisure Group. The Malta Open Championships are also support by Cisk – the official beer of the 2014 Malta Open Championships.

The Eden SuperBowl remains open to the public and spectators throughout the Malta Open Championships, and entrance is free of charge. All scores and tournament information can be found at www.edensuperbowl.com.