EDEN SUPERBOWL, ST. JULIANS, MALTA - JUNE 15-19, 2005

BETTER THAN CLOUD NINE?
"Met mijn hoofde in de wolken," replied Chris van Damme of Belgium when asked just how he felt after his convincing win over England's Paul Moor, the defending champion, in the stepladder title match. The translation of that Flemish statement is along the lines of "with my head in the clouds."
Van Damme succeeded in clinching one of his most sought after titles on his twelfth attempt. The Belgian executive taxi company proprietor, who turns 47 in two days, has hardly rolled a bowling ball for at least three months, but did practice three times last week. "I always feel very much at home in Malta and always look forward to the Open each June. But now I will have to pack my ball away until September as I am always very busy through the summer."
His previous best finish was second place against fellow countryman Gery Verbruggen in 2003. "I started with an open frame and Gery opened with six strikes in a row. I was buried by the fifth frame. Against Paul Moor I was a little scared, I know that he is capable of coming back at me even if I built a lead. I didn't realize until after the final that he was the defending champion."
As top seed, van Damme could wait in the wings whilst the other three stepladder qualifiers fought for the right to challenge him for the title. Wim van der Veen of the Netherlands made the first charge, defeating Mark Wells of England, 223-201, in the opener but fell to Paul Moor in a low scoring second match, 178-170. Then van Damme had his moments of glory by taking out the English leftie, 245-158.
In the ladies' division, 2000 Malta Open champion and also AMF Bowling World Cup champion Martina Beckel from Frankfurt and, quietly now, 46 years of age, qualified in fourth place and progressed to the top of the podium with convincing wins over Britt Brondsted of Denmark, 223-203, in the opening match; 233-188 to topple Lisa Gardner of England in the second and then back to normality with a 181-163 victory over top seed Helen Johnsson of Sweden in the title match.
The Swede had looked absolutely impregnable throughout the tournament and was certainly the odds-on favorite to take the title, but things just didn't work out that way, especially as the 163 was the lowest game she had bowled in this year's Open.
The big surprise was Beckel leaving the 5-7-10 split, yes, 5-7-10, in the seventh frame against Johnsson, the rarest split of all and nigh on impossible to convert without using something like a six pound ball. Asked if she had ever done this before, she replied, laughingly, "Yes, I did that in the AMF World Cup in Singapore last year." Then she headed across the street to take in some sun at the luxurious Intercontinental Hotel pool.

STEPLADDER FINALS - LADIES:
Match 1:

	Name	Nat	Score		Name	Nat.	Score
	Martina Beckel	Germany	234	vs	Britt Brondsted	Denmark	203

Match 2:

	Name	Nat	Score		Name	Nat.	Score
	Lisa Gardner	England	188	vs	Martina Beckel	Germany	233

FINAL:

	Name	Nat	Score		Name	Nat.	Score
	Helen Johnsson	Sweden	163	vs	Martina Beckel	Germany	181

LADY CHAMPION: MARTINA BECKEL, Germany

MEN:
Match 1

	Name	Nat	Score		Name	Nat.	Score
	Wim v.d. Veen	Holland	223	vs	Mark Wells	England	201

Match 2:
 

	Name	Nat	Score		Name	Nat.	Score
	Paul Moor	England	178	vs	Wim v.d. Veen	Holland	170

FINAL

	Name	Nat	Score		Name	Nat.	Score
	Chris van Damme	Belgium	245	vs	Paul Moor	England	158

MEN'S CHAMPION: CHRIS VAN DAMME, Belgium

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For further information, contact Keith Hale: keithhale679@aol.com