Malta Bowling Association Gold Cup titles went to Marthese Cossai and Melvin Galea following an exciting edition of the competition for male bowlers averaging below 180 and female bowlers averaging below 175.
In the men’s section, the eight qualifiers were led by Edward Xuereb, followed closely by Melvin Galea, Aaron Belli, Daniel Grech, Daniel Ricciari, Kyle Camilleri, Nicholas Falzon and Luke Mercieca.
Galea moved into the lead after the opening game with a win over Xuereb and remained in front until game four. Xuereb briefly regained top spot after game five, but Galea responded immediately, reclaiming the lead after game six and eventually securing the title by an overall margin of 29 pins. Belli maintained third place throughout the latter stages of the competition. Falzon, who had started in seventh place, produced an impressive comeback by winning five and drawing one of his seven head-to-head matches, though he could only climb to fifth due to the early deficit.
In the women’s competition, Marthese Cossai qualified first ahead of Jade Barbara in second place. Although Cossai lost her lead early on, she bounced back strongly with four wins from five matches to finish 34 pins ahead of the young Barbara. Youth player Charlize Bartolo claimed third place, just 12 pins further behind. Liliana Spiteri finished fourth, ahead of Sandra Xuereb and Celianne Micallef.
