|
Just four
players to a pair of lanes on this squad, a
little depleted as some of our Italian friends
once again failed to sh ow up.
 This squad featured double defending champion
Chris van Damme from Belgium, arriving this year
in very toned-down trousers, so we miss the colorful sartorial outfits. He had a slow start,
which spoiled his chance of roosting with the
leaders.
One highlight came on game four with Nikolay
Ovchinnikov from Latvia hitting the first ten
strikes but then leaving the 10-pin, so having
to be content with a 289.
But the main highlights were for England's Nick
Froggatt (pictured, left), the Nottingham pro shop
operator, and Geert-Jan van Baest of the
Netherlands (right) whose 1479 opening blocks set them
well on course to be the tournament leaders,
subject, of course, to a similar scoring spree
in the second block. A couple of nine-spares in
his sixth game brought Nick a 269. He was
looking for another 21 pins to hit the 1500
mark. Geert-Jan finished with a 278 and it was a
192 in his fourth game that cost him exceeding
1500. Geert-Jan,
37, from Amstelveen in the Netherlands, is
competing in the Malta Open for the fourth time.
"I'm bowling more EBT tournaments now, but the
combination of the sun and a good tournament
brings me back to Malta. Anyway, I've made the
top eight twice now, so that encourages me to
come back." Diana
Zavjalova from Latvia topped the small ladies'
field in this squad, rolling a 216.5 average to
grab 1299 pins over her first six games.
"I can't remember whether this is my fourth or
fifth visit to the Malta Open," explained Nick
Froggatt. "It is a tournament I enjoy but I
don't take it as seriously as most of the
European Tour events. It is not classed as a
'major' with double ranking points but on the
other hand it does have a great holiday
atmosphere and nightlife.
"But now, with 1479 going into the second block,
I need to knuckle down. I had a great six-game
block today, all clean and no open frames, which
is a good feeling. I'm getting good ball
reaction and am well on top of my game."
This squad returns to the heat of battle at
23:00 but as there are just four to a pair
of lanes, they should all be finished by 02:00,
leaving plenty of time to enjoy a few
celebration drinks before retiring for the
night. The Night Shift
It was all thrills and spills when the squad
returned near the bewitching hour for their
second six-game block. Geert-Jan put his foot on
the throttle to repel all challengers and
emerged as both squad leader and overall
pacemaker. High games during the second block of
257, 268 and 258 brought him down the home
straight 61 pins ahead of Nick Froggatt, so
breaking the tie and now the total score to beat
is 2898.
 Defending
champion Chris van Damme, winner in both 2005
and 2006, ain't doin' so good this year, maybe
because he's toned down those spectacular
trousers he's worn the past few years (see
picture). He's now 13th in the overall
standings. Diane Zavjalova held
her top of the squad position through the final
set, topping the distaff quintet with 2491 but
is currently ninth in the overall standings.
There's just
Squad 'F' on the lanes with their final stint,
then the men's field cuts to 72 and the girls to
36 for a further four games apiece.
SQUAD 'E' - 12 games:
|
|
Name
|
Nat
|
1
|
2
|
3
|
4
|
5
|
6
|
7
|
8
|
9
|
10
|
11
|
12
|
Tot
|
Ave
|
|
1
|
Geert-Jan van
Baest
|
HOL
|
235
|
237
|
279
|
192
|
258
|
278
|
257
|
213
|
207
|
216
|
268
|
258
|
2898
|
241.5
|
|
2
|
Nick Froggatt
|
ENG
|
222
|
245
|
258
|
229
|
256
|
269
|
203
|
204
|
289
|
234
|
221
|
207
|
2837
|
236.4
|
|
3
|
Chris van Damme
|
BEL
|
187
|
266
|
211
|
169
|
257
|
246
|
258
|
159
|
238
|
247
|
205
|
255
|
2698
|
224.8
|
|
4
|
Nikolay
Ovchinnikov
|
LAT
|
171
|
204
|
183
|
289
|
235
|
238
|
188
|
224
|
227
|
244
|
224
|
212
|
2639
|
219.9
|
|
5
|
Willem Van
Hemert
|
HOL
|
213
|
147
|
258
|
210
|
227
|
231
|
201
|
202
|
232
|
201
|
227
|
208
|
2557
|
213.0
|
|
6
|
Jeffrey De
Vetter
|
BEL
|
277
|
189
|
199
|
268
|
179
|
235
|
204
|
233
|
163
|
186
|
205
|
213
|
2551
|
212.5
|
|
7
|
Alexander Gurkov
|
RUS
|
214
|
224
|
264
|
180
|
248
|
214
|
260
|
148
|
198
|
232
|
155
|
205
|
2542
|
211.8
|
|
8
|
Oleg Chumak
|
RUS
|
203
|
202
|
153
|
204
|
226
|
236
|
200
|
202
|
246
|
236
|
226
|
206
|
2540
|
211.6
|
|
9
|
Christian Kweens
|
HOL
|
193
|
232
|
246
|
178
|
252
|
222
|
193
|
158
|
227
|
231
|
151
|
188
|
2471
|
205.9
|
|
10
|
Geoffrey Cirkel
|
HOL
|
185
|
168
|
171
|
212
|
237
|
146
|
196
|
224
|
192
|
246
|
196
|
279
|
2452
|
204.3
|
|
11
|
Serge Frouvelle
|
FRA
|
186
|
226
|
214
|
219
|
226
|
190
|
135
|
193
|
199
|
228
|
204
|
227
|
2447
|
203.9
|
|
12
|
Jerry Jahn
|
HOL
|
176
|
206
|
183
|
233
|
237
|
223
|
192
|
174
|
226
|
189
|
191
|
191
|
2421
|
201.7
|
|
13
|
Philip Kargotis
|
ENG
|
214
|
190
|
199
|
247
|
149
|
257
|
181
|
246
|
172
|
144
|
211
|
163
|
2373
|
197.7
|
|
14
|
Michael Colijn
|
HOL
|
212
|
190
|
161
|
219
|
237
|
179
|
181
|
173
|
215
|
200
|
183
|
184
|
2334
|
194.5
|
|
15
|
Pietro
Santamaria
|
ITA
|
167
|
157
|
200
|
193
|
191
|
188
|
204
|
168
|
225
|
249
|
212
|
177
|
2331
|
194.2
|
|
16
|
John Balani
|
MLT
|
191
|
166
|
201
|
168
|
198
|
190
|
173
|
186
|
185
|
241
|
180
|
238
|
2317
|
193.0
|
|
17
|
Dmitry
Lapshinsky
|
RUS
|
234
|
197
|
175
|
155
|
209
|
201
|
213
|
197
|
158
|
210
|
199
|
167
|
2315
|
192.9
|
|
18
|
Josh Goldswaine
|
ENG
|
210
|
170
|
202
|
209
|
167
|
161
|
147
|
166
|
145
|
175
|
181
|
204
|
2137
|
178.0
|
|
19
|
Craig Black
|
USA
|
192
|
177
|
187
|
168
|
173
|
180
|
163
|
147
|
179
|
178
|
186
|
185
|
2115
|
176.2
|
|
20
|
Terry Arthurs
|
ENG
|
164
|
161
|
170
|
180
|
147
|
192
|
191
|
162
|
184
|
145
|
198
|
212
|
2106
|
175.5
|
|
21
|
Konstantin
Kokorin
|
RUS
|
182
|
203
|
171
|
175
|
148
|
162
|
166
|
186
|
181
|
169
|
169
|
186
|
2098
|
174.8
|
|
22
|
Pavel Alekseen
|
RUS
|
181
|
153
|
178
|
208
|
177
|
147
|
147
|
199
|
183
|
159
|
158
|
190
|
2080
|
173.3
|
|
23
|
Aleksandr Levtev
|
RUS
|
196
|
145
|
154
|
178
|
205
|
165
|
159
|
187
|
200
|
165
|
159
|
163
|
2076
|
173.0
|
|
24
|
Kirill Komarov
|
RUS
|
154
|
180
|
173
|
147
|
182
|
174
|
192
|
161
|
158
|
180
|
124
|
226
|
2051
|
170.9
|
|
25
|
Paul Adly
|
ENG
|
181
|
147
|
177
|
182
|
166
|
195
|
102
|
164
|
159
|
165
|
220
|
144
|
2002
|
166.8
|
|
26
|
Maksim
Matviychuk
|
RUS
|
174
|
152
|
143
|
168
|
167
|
188
|
149
|
171
|
153
|
161
|
171
|
169
|
1966
|
163.8
|
|
27
|
Giuseppe
Vinciguerra
|
ITA
|
171
|
129
|
172
|
195
|
123
|
121
|
161
|
122
|
147
|
187
|
151
|
132
|
1811
|
150.9
|
|
28
|
Cornell Pettus
|
USA
|
101
|
108
|
178
|
130
|
148
|
130
|
167
|
129
|
114
|
131
|
121
|
141
|
1598
|
133.1
|
|
29
|
Salvo Tricoli
|
ITA
|
141
|
142
|
149
|
180
|
172
|
204
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
988
|
164.6
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Ladies |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
P
|
Name
|
Nat
|
1
|
2
|
3
|
4
|
5
|
6
|
7
|
8
|
9
|
10
|
11
|
12
|
Tot
|
Ave
|
|
1
|
Diana Zavjalova
|
LAT
|
159
|
245
|
234
|
231
|
269
|
161
|
198
|
233
|
167
|
193
|
209
|
192
|
2491
|
207.5
|
|
2
|
Debbie Watson
|
SCO
|
238
|
195
|
186
|
228
|
191
|
229
|
204
|
196
|
159
|
201
|
233
|
212
|
2472
|
206.0
|
|
3
|
Mariana
Andersson
|
SWE
|
191
|
146
|
202
|
193
|
185
|
179
|
156
|
191
|
199
|
170
|
160
|
214
|
2186
|
182.1
|
|
4
|
Galina Sukhanova
|
RUS
|
194
|
150
|
231
|
187
|
146
|
139
|
212
|
164
|
149
|
160
|
| | | | 
