Nicholas Muscat triumphs in the MBA Masters at the Superbowl

This year, the Masters was a keenly high-scoring event.

The top 4 from the qualifying round were all youths, led by Nicolai Mallia with an amazing 248 average, followed by Travis Barbara, Kayden Lagana’ and Nicholas Muscat, and all advanced to the final day directly.

The next 12 bowlers went into the second qualifying day to determine which six would make the cut and join the top 4 on the final day.  

Alja Bergauer, Sue Abela, Kenneth Arpa, Tomas Caruso, Melissa Swift and Philip Gruppetta made it through.

The final day saw these 10 bowlers bowl five games.  

Nicholas Muscat shot a simply stunning 1,285 (257 average) to dominate proceedings, ahead of Nicolai Mallia who rolled a 1,184 (236). 

Fellow youth Tomas Caruso had a very good performance to jump up to third place with a 1,137 followed by Philip Gruppetta with a 1,121.

The last two places were a fight till the last frame between Bergauer, Arpa, Lagana and Swift.

Arpa ended on a 1,079, with Bergauer clinching the last spot just two pins ahead of Lagana, with Swift just another six pins behind.

The finals saw the 6 divided into 2 groups of three, bowling one game, with the person with the lowest score out.

In Group 1, Game 1 saw Bergauer with a 161 losing out by just one pin to Philip Gruppetta, while Muscat was never in doubt with his 206. 

Game 2 saw Muscat again shooting a 208 as Gruppetta struggled only to manage a 152.

Group 2 was also tight. 

Arpa’s 184 was not enough to beat Mallia’s 186 and Caruso’s 200, and so the two youngsters fought it out in the next game, with Caruso edging out Mallia 224-201.

The final was a high-scoring one.

Caruso pushed Muscat hard, but his 216 was not enough. Muscat had another strong 247 to finish as a worthy winner in this year’s Masters.