The Mediterranean Challenge Cup, now known as the Mediterranean Bowling Championships, is a ten-pin bowling competition for the federations with coastline to the Mediterranean Sea.MBC: A Historical Review San Marino, Portugal, Kosovo, and Serbia have all participated in the MBC that don't have coastline to the Mediterranean Sea but are members of the Mediterranean Bowling Confederation. It is recognized by the European Tenpin Bowling Federation, with the first edition conducted in 1998. Each eligible federation sends two men and two women to compete for medals in Singles, Doubles, Mixed Doubles (added in 2012), Teams, All-Events and Masters (added in 2007) for a total of 10 medal events.
History
I MCC - Nicosia 1998 The first Mediterranean Challenge Cup (MCC) was held in Nicosia, Cyprus in 1998 with players from Greece, Israel, Malta and Cyprus. Tasoulla Hadjiloizou (Cyprus) and Dimitrios Karetsos (Greece) won the singles events. Sue Abela-Melissa Anastasi (Malta) won women's doubles and Dimitrios Karetsos-Manolis Michalenas (Greece) won men's doubles. Greece won the teams event. Abela and Karetsos topped the "all-events" standings.
II MCC - St. Julian's 1999 The second MCC was held in St. Julian's, Malta and included a new team, Turkey. Lisa Shalom (Israel) and Christos Kourtellides (Cyprus) won the singles events. Christina Fotinia-Aleka Zorba (Greece) won women's doubles and Steve Calleja-Danial Swift won men's doubles. Malta won the teams event and also swept the "all-events" gold medals, with Sue Abela winning the women's "all-events" for the second year in a row and Calleja winning the men's "all-events".
III MCC - Athens 2000 Athens, Greece hosted the third MCC with a new team from the western shore of the Mediterranean Sea, Spain. Sue Abela (Malta) and Dimitrios Karetsos (Greece) won the singles events. The doubles event winners were Sue Abela-Melissa Anastasi (Malta) and Dimitrios Karetsos-Leonidas Maragos (Greece). Israel won the team event. Abela and Karetsos won the "all-events" gold medal, as they both did in 1998. Abela has won three consecutive women's "all-events" gold medals.
IV MCC - Nicosia 2001 The fourth MCC was held in Nicosia, Cyprus for the second time, and one of the teams withdrew, Turkey. Greece swept the singles events, Esmeralda Kaltsou winning women's singles and Dimitrios Karetsos winning men's singles for the third time in four years. Ida Pardo-Sarit Mizrahi (Israel) won women's doubles and Dimitrios Karetsos-Alex Tzounis (Greece) won men's doubles. Karetsos has won three men's doubles gold medals in four years with three different partners. Israel won the teams event for the second year in a row. Greece swept the "all-events" gold medals, with singles event winners Kaltsou and Karetsos prevailing. Karetsos has won three of the four men's "all-events" gold medals.
V MCC - Barcelona 2002 In fifth MCC was held in Barcelona, (Catalonia), increasing the number of teams to seven with the return of Turkey and the first participation of France. It was played from April 12 to 13 in the Bowling Pedralbes. Sue Abela (Malta) and Bertrand Pujol (France) won both singles and "all-events". Abela has won four of the five "all-events" gold medals. Alexandra Combes-Karen Jost (France) won the women's doubles event and Leonidas Maragos-Dimitris Karetsos (Greece) winning men's doubles for the second time, having won in 2000. Karetsos has been a part of four winning doubles teams for Greece. Greece won the team event. France ended up winning the most medals in the 2002 MCC in their first participation, 3 golds, 2 silver, 2 bronze.Greece captures gold medal in Team event in Barcelona
VI MCC - Istanbul 2003 The sixth MCC was held in the Korukent Cosmic Bowling of Istanbul, Turkey. Greece and France withdrew, while Italy participated in its first MCC. Pnina Raskin (Israel) and Habib Dogan (Turkey) won the singles events. Sue Abela-Doris Camilleri (Malta) won women's doubles and Marcial Ovide-Lluis Montfort (Spain) won men's doubles. Spain won the teams event. Abela and Montfort won the "all-events" gold medals. Abela has won five of the six "all-events" gold medals. Italy in its first participation won two silver medals and a bronze medal. Montfort and Abela end 2003 Mediterranean Challenge Cup with victory in All Events
VII MCC - Rome 2004 The seventh MCC was held in Rome, Italy. Gibraltar and San Marino joined the competition and Greece returned. Sue Abela (Malta) and Moises Perez (Spain) won the singles events. Sue Abela-Melissa Anastasi (Malta) won women's doubles for the third time, having previously won in 1998 and 2000. Men's doubles were Loris Masetti-Marco Reviglio (Italy). Italy won the teams events. Abela and Marcial Ovide (Spain) won the "all-events" gold medals. Abela has won six of seven women's "all-events" gold medals. Sue Abela and Marco Reviglio shine in Mediterranean Challenge Cup
VIII MCC - St. Julian's 2005 The eighth MCC was held in St. Julian's, Malta for the second time at Eden Superbowl, with Turkey withdrawing. Anastasia Rovithaki (Greece) and Marcial Ovide (Spain) won the singles events. Anastasia Rovithaki-Despina Chrisanthi (Greece) won women's doubles and Yaniv Gresario-Yahav Rabin (Israel) won men's doubles. Malta won the teams event. Abela and Ovide won the "all-events" gold medals, just as both did last year. Abela has won seven of the eight women's "all-events" gold medals and four in a row. Mediterranean Challenge Cup VIII
IX MCC - Serravalle 2006 The ninth MCC was held in Serravalle, San Marino at Rose'n'Bowl. Turkey returned, Morocco joined the Cup and Spain withdrew. Sue Abela (Malta) and Domenica Maddaloni (Italy) won the singles events. Abela has now won four singles gold medals. Sue Abela-Lorraine Casha (Malta) won women's doubles and Tener-Johnatan Geller (Israel) won men's doubles. Greece won the teams event. Abela and Pachoulis Vretos (Greece) won the "all-events". Abela has won five consecutive women's "all-events" gold medals and eight of nine overall. San Marino won its first medal in the MCC, when Nico Gasperoni won a bronze in the singles event. Team Malta Beats Eight Nations to win IX Mediterranean Challenge Cup, San Marino
X MCC - Mersin 2007 The tenth MCC was held in Mersin, Turkey from March 27 to April 3 at Rollhouse Bowling Center of Mersin. Eleven teams participated with the return of France and Spain. A Masters event was introduced, which consisted of the top 8 in the All-Events standings for men and women playing three rounds of best-of-three single eliminations. Chiara Roiati (Italy) and Mark Spiteri (Malta) emerged as winners of the masters event. Natassa Rovithaki (Greece) and Nunzio Romano (Italy) won the singles events. Nofar Hershkovich-Mor Aviramtwo (Israel) won women's doubles and Xavier Lotthe-Emmanuel Michaud (France) won men's doubles. Italy won the teams event. The All-Event gold medalists were Rovithaki and Michaud.2007 Mersin
XI MCC - Chania 2008 The eleventh MCC was held in Chania, Greece at Bowling Mega Palace. Nine teams participated while Israel and Morocco withdrawing. Sue Abela (Malta) and Sebastien Henry won the singles events. Abela has won five singles gold medals. Elise Brenteville-Marie Gauton (France) won women's doubles and Marco Reviglio-Maurizio Celli (Italy) won men's doubles. Abela and Melvin Ocando (Spain) won the All-Events gold medals. Abela has now won nine All-Events gold medals. Turkey won the teams event. Gauton and Ocando won the masters event.2008 Chania
XII MCC - Montpellier 2009 The twelfth MCC was held in Montpellier, France from April 23–25 at Bowling de Montpellier. Ten teams participated with Spain withdrawing and the inclusion of Catalonia and the return of Israel. The winners of the singles events were Ioannis Stathatos (Greece) and Sue Abela (Malta). Abela now has six singles gold medals. Natassa Rovithaki-Georgia Papadimitriou (Greece) won women's doubles and Daniele Fiorentini-Frederico Rossi (Italy) won men's doubles. France won the teams event. Liat Vizenfeld (Israel) and Lluís Montfort (Catalonia) won the All-Events gold medals. Abela and Montfort won the masters events.
XIII MCC - Paphos 2010 In 2010 the MCC was held in Paphos, Cyprus from April 15–17. The teams were the same as 2009. Antonio Francesco (Italy) and Liat Vizenfeld (Israel) won the singles events. Antonio Francesco-Marco Reviglio (Italy) and Niki Schiza-Myria Kastori (Cyprus) won the doubles event. Cyprus won the teams event. The All-Events gold medals went to Marco Reviglio (Italy) and Niki Schiza (Cyprus), and the Masters event were won by Or Aviram and Sarit Mizrahi, both from Israel.
XIV MCC - Barcelona 2011
In 2011 the MCC was held in Barcelona (Catalonia) for the second time, increasing the number of teams to 13 with the first participation of Croatia, Slovenia and Tunisia. It was played from March 30 to April 2 in the Bowling Pedralbes. Sue Abela (Malta) and Georgios Stefanidis (Greece) won the singles events. Abela has won seven singles gold medals. Sue Abela-Tiziana Carannante (Malta) and Georgios Stefanidis-Evangelos Krizinis (Greece) won the doubles events and France won the teams event. The "All Event" winners were Sue Abela (Malta) and Habib Dogan (Turkey). Abela has won ten All-Event gold medals. Masters champions were Niki Schiza (Cyprus) and Marco Reviglio (Italy).
XV MCC - Serravalle 2012 In 2012 the MCC was held in Serravalle, San Marino for the second time (previously hosted in 2006) from April 17–21 at Rose'n Bowl with the same 13 teams as 2011. Sandra Torrents (Catalonia) and Maurizio Celli (Italy) won the singles events. The winners in the doubles event were Ebru Ozogluuntur-Adile Michajlow (Turkey) and George Stefanidis-Evangelos Krizinis (Greece), the Greek team winning for the second straight year. A new event, mixed doubles, was added to the schedule, with Daniela Buzzeli-Enzo Zucchinelli (Italy) emerging as winners. The teams event was won by Greece. The "All Event" winners were Sandra Torrents (Catalonia) and Evangelos Krizinis (Greece). The Masters champions were Sue Abela (Malta) and George Stefanidis (Greece).
XVI MCC - Ljubljana 2013 In 2013 the MCC was held in Ljubljana, Slovenia for the first time from April 9–13 at Bowling Klub 300. 13 teams participated, with Spain returning and Catalonia withdrawing. The singles events were won by Helga Di Benedetto (Italy) and Justin Scicluna (Malta). The winners in the doubles event were Sue Abela-Tiziana Carannante (Malta) for the second time and Julien Sermand-Nicolas Marchand (France). Mixed doubles was won by Alexandra Zormpa-Ioannis Maroussis (Greece). Italy won the teams event. The "All Event" winners were Sue Abela (Malta) and Anže Grabrijan (Slovenia). Abela has won eleven All-Events gold medals. Anže Grabrijan's All-Events gold medal was the first ever for Slovenia in the MCC. Masters champions were Myria Kastori (Cyprus) and Tolga Sismanogullar (Turkey). Croatia won its first ever medal in the MCC when Mise Mrkonjic won a bronze in the men's masters event.
XVII MCC - Gibraltar 2014 In 2014 the MCC was held in Gibraltar from April 2–5 at King’s Bastion Leisure Centre. 10 teams participated, with Catalonia returning, while Croatia, Spain, Tunisia and Turkey withdrew. The singles events were won by Sue Abela (Malta) and Lior Bar (Israel). The doubles winners were Lauriane Célié-Stéphanie Dubourg (France) and Anže Grabrijan-Nino Stenko (Slovenia). Mixed doubles winners were Stéphanie Dubourg-Rémy Laudy (France). Greece won the teams event. The "All Event" winners were Lauriane Célié (France) and George Stefanidis (Greece). Célié and Stefanidis also won the Masters event. Gibraltar won its first ever medal in the MCC, when Adam Shrubb won a bronze medal in the men's masters event.
XVIII MCC - Chania 2015