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

THURSDAY JUNE 16 - SQUAD B  - SECOND 6 OF 12 GAMES:
The intrepid 16 players in Squad B were the first to finish the required 12 qualifying games and the squad leaders are John Fitzsimmons and Karen Byrne of England in the respective men's and ladies' divisions. However, although Fitzsimmons remains in pole position in the overall standings, now with a 120 pin lead over Andy Smith, Byrne has taken over as ladies' frontrunner, upping her position from fourth to first, whilst previous leader Doris Camilleri has dropped to fourth.
The Englishman said afterwards: "I found the lanes very hard today. If you missed your mark the ball just seemed to go sideways and the carry was tough, I left a lot of 10-pins."
Fitzsimmons and Byrne can now enjoy the delights of St Julians and many other parts of Malta as they will not be bowling until after the cut on Friday night to the top 72 men and 36 women and will take to the lanes on Saturday for the ongoing rounds.
Byrne, 39, a sales manager from Leicester, is competing in her twelfth consecutive Malta Open but has never been among the prizewinners or even led a squad. "I was a bit nervous but settled down when I found the lanes a little more to my liking today. My husband and I love coming to Malta as we have such a good time and we have made so many friends here over the years."
Byrne is not a regular competitor on the European Bowling Tour but does bowl in some of the English ranking tournaments.
After the current standings the respective men's and ladies' high games are held by John Fitzsimmons with 289 and a 249 by Ann Smith.
Squad C will be the next group to take to the lanes, also completing their 12 games. After that, at 18:00 local time, Squad D will bowl their first six of the qualifiers to complete today's sessions.
Pic: John Fitzsimmons and Karen Byrne

SQUAD C:
All change at the top of both leader boards at the end of hostilities in Squad C. The new frontrunner in the men's division is England's Richard Beck, 35, from Preston, bowling the Malta Open for just the second time. A customer service engineer by trade, Beck does not usually bowl many of the event on the European Tour but had a good finish in the recent Welsh Open, taking third place.
"I changed to a deeper line today," said Beck. "The carry then came and my shot was good. On this condition you just cannot miss your target at all. You just don't try to fight the lanes. I did leave a few 7- and 10-pins and I'd describe it as a 'risk-and-reward' condition. Get it right and it works."
Beck's 223 overall average gives him a 22-point buffer over Mark Wells, also of England. The pair can now wait for the standings tonight after Squad D bowl their first six games.
It all came down to the final frames in the ladies' division as overnight leader Ann Smith was challenged by Nina Flack of Sweden. A brilliant string of seven strikes for a game of 231 gave her the edge over the slim Swede.
"I knew Flack was close but I was trying to stay focused on my own game," remarked Smith. "I found the lanes pretty much the same today so didn't have to make any drastic changes."
John Fitzsimmons still holds the men's high game with 289 and the top score for the ladies is a 256 from Gunn Elin Hestetun of Norway.
Pic: Richard Beck and Ann Smith.

SQUAD D:
 It was a German double on the leader board for Squad D, bowling their first six of 12 qualifying games. Martina Beckel, 46, from Frankfurt, the 2000 Malta Open champion, set the highest six-game score for the girls with 1316. On adjacent lanes, Harald Ohlrogge, also 46 and from Bremen, rolled a slightly lower block score of 1286 to top the men on this squad.
"I used exactly the same line and speed that I did in the World Ranking Masters in Lake Wales, Florida last month," said Beckel. "The lane condition was very similar to that set for the 'long oil' pattern over there. This is my sixth Malta Open and has been one of my favorite events for the past few years and I would very much like to clinch the title once again."
Harald Ohlrogge had the unusual situation of having his brother Holger on his tail throughout the final games and he finished just 48 pins back in second place on the squad. Car dealer Harald reckons that this is his eighth Malta Open, but the tournament organizers say that he has been coming to this idyllic island for much longer than that. "These are good lanes," remarked Harald, as befits someone who is a squad leader.
This squad opens the fray Friday morning at the early hour of 9:00 for their final six-game block.
The ladies' high game has now been upped to 267, thanks to the skills of Switzerland's Bigi Manico.
Pic: Harald Ohlrogge and Martina Beckel

STANDINGS SQUAD D - 6 OF 12 GAMES: