Malta’s young ten pin bowlers put in another impressive showing at the European Youth Championships in Berlin, coming home with medals and some near misses that will live long in the memory.
Nicolai Mallia was the star of the show, winning two Bronze medals in the Singles and All-Events categories, while Kayden Laganà finished a fine 8th place in the Masters.
The team events were equally exciting, with the Maltese side coming agonisingly close to the podium on two occasions. The four-man team of Mallia, Laganà, Tomas and Samuel Caruso finished 5th overall, missing out on a medal by just 17 pins. The doubles pairing of Mallia and Laganà also finished joint 5th, falling just 6 pins short of the medal zone. To put the achievement in context, 25 countries took part in the four-man team event, with 112 boys competing in the singles.
Adding to the occasion, Mallia bowled a perfect 300 game during the team event, a remarkable achievement on such a big stage.
Malta’s sole female competitor also deserves a mention. After a difficult opening day, she rallied brilliantly to finish a respectable 34th out of 57 in the Girls All-Events.
National Coach Mark Spiteri accompanied the squad throughout the championships.
A big thank you goes to BeActive, SportMalta for their invaluable support, and to The Superbowl for providing dedicated training slots to help the players prepare ahead of the event.
