Mark Spiteri and Sue Abela are the winners of the 13th edition of the Bank of Valletta National Seniors Championship organised by the Malta Bowling Association and held over 18 games.
Bowlers who are at least 50 years old are eligible to take part in these championships, and with bowling not being a physically demanding sport, these championships featured some of Malta’s elite bowlers.
All participants were given a handicap based on their age, rather than on their average score as per usual with each bowler being assigned as many handicap points per game as their age subtracted by 50.
As the women’s tournament favourite, Sue Abela unsurprisingly retained her championship towering above the competition and achieving the highest total from all men and women – totalling to 3,951 in 18 games, with an average of 213.50 scratch.
With handicap, she averaged 219.50 per game throughout the entire competition to finish nearly a thousand pins over the runner-up Liliana Spiteri who totalled 3,082.
Third place was awarded to veteran player Josephine Borg, who had a final score of 3,001 (total average of 166.72).
This was Abela’s sixth consecutive BOV National Seniors championship win, winning all editions since she was eligible to participate.
Dennis Mercieca led the pack in the men’s competition, however, he was overtaken by eventual winner Mark Spiteri after the second block of games from three days of play.
Spiteri averaged 205.89 (212.89 including handicap) to total 3,832. Spiteri was the only male to average over 200 scratch as Mercieca amassed 3,604 while averaging 194.22 (200.22 including handicap).
Third place went to current national champion Kenneth Arpa who finished his tournament with a score of 3,567 while averaging 195.17 scratch throughout.
This victory resulted in Mark Spiteri winning his third national senior title.
Ernest Agius, Chief Operating Officer at Bank of Valletta, accompanied by Malta Bowling Association president Edward Mifsud, presented the trophies to the newly crowned champions.
In a statement, Bank of Valletta said that it firmly believes in ethical and responsible behaviour as part of its ESG commitments.
“Sports promotes fairness, integrity, responsibility, and respect, which Bank of Valletta strongly advocates as the pillars of a prosperous community,” the statement said.
