Helga Di Benedetto (pictured left) of Italy and Malta's Justin Scicluna (right) earned the gold medals in women's and men's Singles, the opening event of the 16th Mediterranean Challenge Cup currently underway at Bowling Klub 300 in Ljubljana, Slovenia.

Di Benedetto had games of 188, 178, 236, 190, 213 and 212 to win the gold medal in the women's division with 1217 total and an average of 202.83 for six games. Ebru Özoğluuntur of Turkey finished her series with a big 236 game but fell four pins short to take the silver medal with 1213 (202.17).

The bronze medal went to Sue Abela of Malta with 1203 (200.50). Abela, the only player who has participated in all Mediterranean Challenge Cups, has medaled in each of the sixteen events.

L-R Ebru Özoğluuntur (2nd), champion Helga Di Benedetto and Sue Abela (3rd).

Abela's son, Justin Scicluna, closed out the men's Singles with a huge 279 game to beat out local favorite Anže Grabrijan, Slovenia, for the gold medal by seven pins. Scicluna, who started his set with 211, 257, 246, 173 and 171, toppled 1337 pins, an average of 222.83 for six games.

Grabrijan, who became the first Slovenian bowler to win a title on the European Bowling Tour in the Wroclaw Open in February, used high games of 268 and 258 for 1330 (221.67). He made history again as his silver medal is the first medal for Slovenia in an international championship.

L-R Anže Grabrijan (2nd), champion Justin Scicluna and Francesco Bellomonte (3rd).

Francesco Bellomonte of Italy led the field heading into the last game but had to settle for the bronze medal with 1304 (217.33) after finishing with a 167 game.

The 16th Mediterranean Challenge Cup 2013 will be held from April 9-14, 2013 at Bowling Klub 300, a 16-laner in Ljubljana, Slovenia. Each country is represented by a team of up to two female and two male competitors.

50 players, 26 men and 24 women, from 13 countries - Croatia, Cyprus, France, Gibraltar, Greece, Israel, Italy, Malta, San Marino, Spain, Tunisia, Turkey and host Slovenia - compete in separate divisions for gold, silver and bronze medals in Singles, Doubles, Mixed Doubles, Team, All Events and Masters.

The Mediterranean Challenge Cup will continue on Thursday with the women's and men's Doubles.

 

2013 Mediterranean Challenge Cup - Men's Singles

Pos	Player	Country	G1	G2	G3	G4	G5	G6	Total	Ave.
1.	Justin Scicluna	Malta	211	257	246	173	171	279	1337	222.83
2.	Anže Grabrijan	Slovenia	268	222	208	170	258	204	1330	221.67
3.	Francesco Bellomonte	Italy	267	236	206	190	238	167	1304	217.33
4.	Ioannis Maroussis	Greece	210	225	254	182	205	208	1284	214.00
5.	Tolga ÅžiÅŸmanoÄŸullar	Turkey	167	203	254	236	190	181	1231	205.17
6.	Julien Sermand	France	213	165	247	211	192	197	1225	204.17
7.	Habib DoÄŸan	Turkey	224	204	172	202	203	215	1220	203.33
8.	Maurizio Celli	Italy	184	146	201	226	235	223	1215	202.50
9.	Adam Shrubb	Gibraltar	233	173	219	193	206	189	1213	202.17
10.	Francisco Rodriguez	Spain	244	165	226	175	184	210	1204	200.67
11.	Miše Mrkonjić	Croatia	177	276	162	186	231	164	1196	199.33
12.	Nicolaos Kekesis	Greece	193	190	233	167	205	173	1161	193.50
13.	Rankin Camilleri	Malta	191	161	221	211	199	172	1155	192.50
14.	Ettore Bacciocchi	San Marino	207	226	180	179	202	161	1155	192.50
15.	Dario Miculinić	Croatia	193	202	193	167	202	188	1145	190.83
16.	Javier Moreno	Spain	161	211	188	195	196	193	1144	190.67
17.	Fabrizio Biordi	San Marino	199	161	177	146	194	256	1133	188.83
18.	Žiga Kalan	Slovenia	200	169	214	186	188	159	1116	186.00
19.	Nicolas Marchand	France	142	181	185	228	172	205	1113	185.50
20.	Panayiotis Papaonisiforou	Cyprus	178	150	212	192	160	205	1097	182.83
21.	Michael Wood	Gibraltar	169	180	175	184	185	160	1053	175.50
22.	Eliezer Kazes	Israel	161	196	174	186	177	155	1049	174.83
23.	George Stavrinou	Cyprus	185	166	176	148	171	169	1015	169.17
24.	Shahaf Rubinstein	Israel	161	187	168	136	146	197	995	165.83
25.	Skander Tanfous	Tunisia	178	158	114	159	138	190	937	156.17
26.	Khaled Meziou	Tunisia	177	155	127	156	167	126	908	151.33

 

2013 Mediterranean Challenge Cup - Women's Singles

Pos	Player	Country	G1	G2	G3	G4	G5	G6	Total	Ave.
1.	Helga Di Benedetto	Italy	188	178	236	190	213	212	1217	202.83
2.	Ebru Özoğluuntur	Turkey	204	213	168	181	211	236	1213	202.17
3.	Sue Abela	Malta	205	238	182	222	176	180	1203	200.50
4.	Wendy Bartaire	France	179	179	193	216	202	225	1194	199.00
5.	Adile Sevgi Michajlow	Turkey	219	203	192	193	178	183	1168	194.67
6.	Myria Kastori	Cyprus	183	167	157	203	191	233	1134	189.00
7.	Styliani Tsikouna	Greece	148	190	224	189	207	160	1118	186.33
8.	Fausta Regali	Italy	179	188	182	162	160	241	1112	185.33
9.	Stephanie Dubourg	France	180	162	158	196	205	186	1087	181.17
10.	Alexandra Zormpa	Greece	148	171	180	171	210	205	1085	180.83
11.	Danijela Funda	Croatia	174	199	170	180	146	210	1079	179.83
12.	Tiziana Carannante	Malta	199	151	191	210	163	164	1078	179.67
13.	Morena Barbieri	San Marino	186	157	181	195	133	202	1054	175.67
14.	Carmen Romero	Spain	180	157	166	164	199	179	1045	174.17
15.	Petra Donevski	Croatia	162	217	181	168	154	142	1024	170.67
16.	Maja Debenec	Slovenia	141	208	180	147	164	165	1005	167.50
17.	Hela Meziou	Tunisia	191	174	176	149	161	145	996	166.00
18.	Amparo Sansegundo	Spain	154	186	182	149	180	134	985	164.17
19.	Mateja Kerovec	Slovenia	168	175	140	111	176	211	981	163.50
20.	Hana Duanis	Israel	156	175	150	165	168	163	977	162.83
21.	Nantia Herodotou	Cyprus	155	150	175	160	160	168	968	161.33
22.	Milva Piva	San Marino	179	138	170	190	144	131	952	158.67
23.	Shoshana Nadav	Israel	164	131	165	205	145	125	935	155.83
24.	Annagui Sonia	Tunisia	139	170	134	165	146	154	908	151.33