|
Mark Wells of Peterborough, England outgunned
the 45-man opening squad of the 2007 Malta Open,
hitting a 238.50 average over his first six
games to top the leader board with 1,431.
But there are still around 150 more competitors
to take to the lanes over the next three days,
so it will be a nail-biting session for Mark.
His second six-game block is at 12:30 on
Thursday, the next squad to bowl.
 Mark,
31, a baker by trade, has ventured into the
world of marital bliss, having married Helene
just three days ago here in Malta. What attracts
this young man to Malta? "The weather," he
promptly replied. This if his fifth time in the
Malta Open. He finished fourth overall a few
years ago. "This is a tournament I really
enjoy," he commented. "The people here are so
friendly, especially to the English."
 In the ladies' division, Evgenia Tsarkova from
Ekaterinburg, down in the Urals in Russia, tops
the field on 1,242, a 207.0 average.
Thanks to Dom Gall of TalkTenpin.co.uk for this
picture of Evgenia in action during the final
games of the opening squad.
SQUAD 'C' - Second six of 12 qualifying
games
Thursday, June 21
It was a constant ding-dong battle between
overnight
 watchman
Mark Wells and Malta's own Raymond Falzon Reale
(pictured), an electrical fitter from Mosta,
through the final six games of Squad 'C', the
first group to complete the 12 qualifying games.
The lead changed hands several times through the
heat of battle, although the temperature did not
reach the level of that outside the center,
where the mercury climbed rapidly to near the
36/100 degree mark. Luckily, the air
conditioning in the center is working
splendidly, but Mark and Raymond kept up the
heat and pressure with some superb high scores.
There were just 36 pins between the pair last
night as Mark posted 1431 to Raymond's 1395, but
it was neck-and-neck through today's encounter.
The proof of the pudding came with a final game
score of 256 from Mark Wells to lock into the
top the table position whilst Raymond had to be
content with the runner-up spot, 15 pins back
from the 'baker in the dough'.
Malta claimed third place, too, with Brian
Farrugia bravely battling away but falling 167
pins short of his compatriot.
 Like
Mark Wells, Evgenia Tsarkova (pictured) held
the lead through the final stint to finish on a
209.50 average, the only woman to exceed par.
The blond Russian beat Luminata Bucin from
Hungary into second place by 148 pins.
SQUAD 'C' -
STANDINGS AFTER 12 GAMES:
|
|
P
|
Name
|
Nat
|
1
|
2
|
3
|
4
|
5
|
6
|
7
|
8
|
9
|
10
|
11
|
12
|
Tot
|
Ave
|
|
1
|
Mark
Wells
|
ENG
|
239
|
236
|
258
|
238
|
224
|
236
|
226
|
212
|
262
|
270
|
195
|
256
|
2852
|
237.6
|
|
2
|
Raymond
Falzon Reale
|
MLT
|
258
|
211
|
226
|
228
|
235
|
237
|
266
|
247
|
214
|
264
|
238
|
213
|
2837
|
236.4
|
|
3
|
Brian
Farrugia
|
MLT
|
225
|
246
|
195
|
213
|
235
|
230
|
246
|
260
|
235
|
222
|
167
|
196
|
2670
|
222.5
|
|
4
|
Santino
Jas
|
HOL
|
242
|
214
|
207
|
213
|
278
|
233
|
183
|
202
|
204
|
233
|
238
|
204
|
2651
|
220.9
|
|
5
|
Paul
Stott
|
IRE
|
227
|
225
|
214
|
189
|
184
|
225
|
244
|
205
|
213
|
216
|
278
|
195
|
2615
|
217.9
|
|
6
|
Ernst
Berndt
|
SWE
|
190
|
214
|
234
|
196
|
190
|
248
|
208
|
212
|
217
|
245
|
236
|
219
|
2609
|
217.4
|
|
7
|
Roger
Olofsson
|
SWE
|
225
|
193
|
181
|
170
|
226
|
215
|
232
|
227
|
235
|
239
|
247
|
217
|
2607
|
217.2
|
|
8
|
Stu
Little
|
ENG
|
202
|
168
|
241
|
179
|
248
|
225
|
279
|
213
|
175
|
212
|
258
|
204
|
2604
|
217.0
|
|
9
|
John
Fitzsimmons
|
ENG
|
181
|
206
|
253
|
221
|
169
|
167
|
190
|
288
|
200
|
247
|
226
|
243
|
2591
|
215.9
|
|
10
|
Christer
Bostrom
|
SWE
|
238
|
211
|
233
|
193
|
227
|
217
|
171
|
159
|
247
|
207
|
225
|
206
|
2534
|
211.1
|
|
11
|
Kenneth
Arpa
|
MLT
|
244
|
237
|
203
|
203
|
171
|
185
|
238
|
168
|
223
|
202
|
225
|
191
|
2490
|
207.5
|
|
12
|
Mark
Callaby
|
ENG
|
199
|
237
|
167
|
169
|
189
|
194
|
239
|
210
|
213
|
236
|
244
|
170
|
2467
|
205.5
|
|
13
|
Justin
Caruana Scicluna
|
MLT
|
218
|
223
|
157
|
170
|
206
|
215
|
235
|
214
|
265
|
202
|
209
|
153
|
2467
|
205.5
|
|
14
|
Max
Lazaridi
|
KAZ
|
195
|
167
|
196
|
233
|
183
|
212
|
202
|
258
|
198
|
207
|
223
|
184
|
2458
|
204.8
|
|
15
|
Ian
Runnacres
|
ENG
|
199
|
244
|
247
|
228
|
191
|
205
|
120
|
189
|
212
|
267
|
154
|
175
|
2431
|
202.5
|
|
16
|
Rankin
Camilleri
|
MLT
|
279
|
257
|
164
|
190
|
234
|
192
|
157
|
167
|
218
|
191
|
163
|
209
|
2421
|
201.7
|
|
17
|
Leif
Ingjer
|
NOR
|
222
|
256
|
146
|
173
|
186
|
182
|
177
|
207
|
181
|
181
|
244
|
207
|
2362
|
196.8
|
|
18
|
János
Farkas
|
HUN
|
197
|
185
|
235
|
196
|
191
|
223
|
174
|
196
|
234
|
191
|
165
|
172
|
2359
|
196.5
|
|
19
|
Zoltán
Skobrics
|
HUN
|
192
|
169
|
177
|
160
|
191
|
175
|
235
|
236
|
182
|
248
|
162
|
226
|
2353
|
196.0
|
|
20
|
Stuart
Cobb
|
ENG
|
215
|
189
|
267
|
175
|
190
|
179
|
194
|
153
|
181
|
213
|
189
|
200
|
2345
|
195.4
|
|
21
|
Philippe
Vancell
|
MLT
|
199
|
201
|
231
|
178
|
221
|
169
|
188
|
189
|
163
|
180
|
200
|
208
|
2327
|
193.9
|
|
22
|
Christian
Evensen
|
NOR
|
181
|
190
|
194
|
219
|
237
|
219
|
170
|
188
|
166
|
169
|
168
|
224
|
2325
|
193.7
|
|
23
|
Morten
Gullřy
|
NOR
|
201
|
222
|
193
|
224
|
187
|
182
|
186
|
170
|
187
|
211
|
161
|
169
|
2293
|
191.0
|
|
24
|
Zoltán
Hevele
|
HUN
|
157
|
182
|
194
|
213
|
221
|
192
|
210
|
184
|
160
|
182
|
193
|
169
|
2257
|
188.0
|
|
25
|
Aleksey
Petrov
|
RUS
|
194
|
179
|
218
|
177
|
172
|
193
|
184
|
191
|
190
|
185
|
147
|
203
|
2233
|
186.0
|
|
26
|
Gary
Wilmott
|
ENG
|
195
|
214
|
190
|
165
|
189
|
150
|
190
|
212
|
208
|
181
|
189
|
146
|
2229
|
185.7
|
|
27
|
Giancarlo Tolu
|
MLT
|
194
|
135
|
180
|
165
|
192
|
242
|
223
|
160
|
182
|
159
|
203
|
188
|
2223
|
185.2
|
|
28
|
John
Bang Olsen
|
NOR
|
174
|
167
|
235
|
166
|
224
|
211
|
191
|
143
|
156
|
216
|
130
|
167
|
2180
|
181.6
|
|
29
|
Neville
Wilson
|
ENG
|
218
|
190
|
135
|
146
|
193
|
157
|
268
|
172
|
141
|
169
|
142
|
154
|
2085
|
173.7
|
|
30
|
Steve
Borg
|
MLT
|
194
|
173
|
210
|
163
|
203
|
163
|
145
|
136
|
159
|
136
|
159
|
189
|
2030
|
169.1
|
|
LADIES:
|
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