Bianca Wiekeraad, Netherlands, and Paul Moor defeated top-seeded Kirsten Penny and Dominic Barrett to claim the titles in the women's and men's division in the 17th Malta Open Championships at Eden SuperBowl in St. Julians.

L-R Paul Moor, Neill Dent, general manager of Eden SuperBowl, and Bianca Wiekeraad.

Wiekeraad, right, seeded third, ousted local favorite Sue Abela in the opening match, 226-215, and sidelined compatriot Nicole Sanders in the semi-final, 197-183, before she cruised to the title with a 2-pin victory over Penny, 238-236.

3-time European Ranking champion (2004-06) Moor, left, finally ended his title draught when he rolled two big scores to beat Stuart Williams in the semis, 268-238, and Barrett in the championship match, 245-211.

For Barrett, it was a bitter disappointment after having dominated the entire tournament from the opening qualifying round to earn the No. 1 qualifying spot for the stepladder finals.

Barrett and Penny led the field of 100 men and 25 women after 27 games by 269 and 138 pins averaging 240.56 and 216.96, respectively.

Opposite to the 4.400 and 3.000 Euro top prizes announced by the European Tenpin Bowling Federation (ETBF), Moor and Wiekeraad earned 3.080 Euro and 2.100 Euro, respectively, for winning the titles.

Less than a month before the start of the tournament, Neil Dent, general manager of Eden SuperBowl, has announced that the total prize fund of original 25.000 Euro would be reduced by 30 per cent to 17.500 Euro because of the low entry numbers.

As Kim Thorsgaard Jensen, ETBF Vice President and Chairman of the Tournament Committee, failed in his attempt to convince the owners of Eden SuperBowl to pay out what they had promised, the 17th edition of the Malta Open might have been the last.

As Jensen stated in an email to the ETBF member federations "the ETBF Presidium will at a later moment decide which actions we will take if any applications for (any) international tournaments will be received by the organizer."

Pictures courtesy of Beat Grauwiler.