Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/835410
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 11 JUNE 2017 53 Sport TRIATHLON BOWLING Galea shows strength in Palermo MALTA'S current Triathlon Champion Keith Galea re- cently took part in the Mondello Cup Sprint Triathlon, held in Palermo Sicily. The Sprint Distance Triathlon (750m Swim, 20km Bike and a 5km Run) attracted a number of high profile triathletes which proved to be a good evaluation in where Galea currently stands es- pecially in view of his participation at the forthcoming European Age Group Triathlon Championships. A strong swim enabled Galea to emerge out of the 750m swim in 8th place having completed the segment in 10 minutes and 40 seconds. A fast transition saw him enter in the leading group of cyclists who worked together to catch up with the three athletes in the front. Averaging a speed of 40km/hr, Galea completed the 22km undulat- ing route in 33 minutes. The leaders' advantage was going to be decided in the 5km run, which saw Galea finish the race in 6th place from a field of 172 athletes. "I am very pleased with my swim and bike, however a better run could have resulted in a podium place, never- theless the training build-up, which was hampered due to illness, is now taking shape and is still enabling me to give a strong performance in a highly competitive field" commented Galea after the Race. Galea's forthcoming commitment is the ETU Age Group Championships which will be held in Kitzbuhel, Austria. Galea's participation in such races is possible due to SportMalta's Flexi Training Scheme as well as funding and support from Garmin Malta, BBB Cycling Malta, Jaycee Malta, Saracino's Café, Scott Bikes, Star- bene 24/7, Team Barry Malta International Challenge Marathon, Lucida Laundry, emvigee pr & marketing, Birkirkara St Joseph Sports Club, the Malta Triathlon Federation and the Maltese Olympic Committee. Spe- cial thanks to coaches Dermot Galea and Ivan Rozhnov. BOV National Bowling Championships Sue Abela and Mauro Anastasi declared National Champions THE 2017 BOV National Bowl- ing Champions are Sue Abela and Mauro Anastasi, having won their respective division in the National Championships, organ- ised by the Malta Ten Pin Bowl- ing Association (MTBA). This is Sue's 22nd title, and Mauro's 3rd one, making him the only male bowler to clinch three titles in the last decade. This year's edition, sponsored by Bank of Valletta, saw 22 com- petitors v ying for this coveted ti- tle, 15 male and 7 female players. Alan Attard, Director at Bank of Valletta presented the trophies to the winners in the presence of MTBA President Paul Baldac- chino. "We are proud to support the MTBA, an association that is achieving success both locally and on the international scene," said Mr Attard whilst congratu- lating the winners. "Bank of Val- letta is a name that has become synonymous with the world of sports. We are proud to be asso- ciated with the top sports disci- plines as well as other disciplines that are gaining interest and see- ing more participants, of differ- ent ages." Speaking about the next phase, Mr Baldacchino, explained that Sue Abela and Mauro Anastasi will now be representing Malta in the European Championship that will be disputed in Vienna, Austria between the 23rd and 29th October. "We take this op- portunity to augur our newly minted champions well in this competition. We are certain that with their performance, both Sue and Mauro will continue to add accolades to those achieved by our bowlers on the international scene." A closer look at the Competition On day 1 we saw Cynthia Duca leading the female section just 9 pins ahead of Sue Abela, while Tiziana Carannante was in 3rd place. In the male section it was Mauro Anastasi who took the early lead, followed by Neil Sulli- van who lagged behind by exactly a 100 pins, and Rankin Camilleri 17 pins under 2nd place. Only Mauro managed to roll a series over 1600 on the day (1651). Day 2 saw some changes. Roll- ing the highest ladies series of the day (1626), Sue Abela leapt to 1st place with an advantage of 69 pins over Tiziana, who improved to 2nd, while Cynthia dropped to 3rd place, just 20 pins below the latter. Although he dropped to a 1551 series, Mauro still retained the lead, followed by Special Olympics star Philip Gruppetta who was 85 pins behind. Neil dropped to 3rd place, 101 pins away from Mauro and just 26 pins from 2nd. Only 2 bowlers managed a 200+ series: Sue Ab- ela (1626) and Dennis Mercieca (1640), the latter leapfrogging from 9th to 4th place. Day 3 was the most exciting of all as we had quite a few bowl- ers bowling over the 1600 se- ries. The only lady to do so was the formidable Sue Abela who rolled a 1646 series, with only 2 games below 200, to not only re- tain the top spot and claim back the championships title, but also increase the lead by a massive 253 pins. The tussle was actu- ally who would clinch 2nd place, as Tiziana and Cynthia, both lefties, and incidentally playing on the same lanes, continued the photo finish, with Tiziana clinching the 2nd spot by 6 pins. Cynthia finished in the 3d place. There were 6 men, who played well over 1600, with the high- est coming from Neil Sullivan (1696). We also had some very good games from this series: 278 by Mauro, 277 by Kenneth and a 276 by Rankin. The best part came in game 6, when we saw a massive game by Mauro and Neil, who were mirroring each other's shots, with Mauro rolling his 278, and Neil a 257, both fuelled by adrenalin. Philip Gruppetta still managed to keep close as he also rolled a good 237. How- ever it all turned sour for him in games 7 and 8 when he could only manage a 152 and 138 to plummet from 2nd to 7th place. The last game was also very keen, as Mauro found himself in some trouble as he couldn't double up, while Neil was gaining on him. However the gap was too wide, with Sullivan having to content with 2nd place. Dennis rolled his best game (254) to clinch the 3rd place. Mauro on the other hand deservedly won the title by an advantage of 89 pins.