Tenpin bowling tournament in Northcliff brings Africa together

Exceptional performances and cross-cultural unity stood out at the Tenpin Bowling Tournament of African Nations, in which South Africa proved victorious.

The much-anticipated tournament was hosted by the Tenpin Bowling Association of South Africa at Northcliff Bowl  from 26–28 May.

This year the countries that participated were South Africa, Mauritius and Ethiopia. Ethiopia and South Africa had women’s teams and one men’s team each, while Mauritius only entered a men’s team.

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The association’s treasurer Michelle Segalla said the opening ceremony was filled with pride as each team sang their respective national anthems. The men’s singles kicked off the tournament.

“The division was closely contested but in the end John Koon from Mauritius took the win from South Africa’s Robert Chudoba and Joey Liu from Mauritius. Day two started in a way that no bowling tournament has ever started, with the Ethiopian team taking to the lanes in a traditional dance,” said Segalla.

She added it wasn’t long before all the teams were involved in a bit of dance off before the serious business of bowling continued.

SA captain Donavan Maistry said, “If it wasn’t for my team members and the Tenpin Bowling Association of South Africa president, Vaughn Williams, the tournament wouldn’t have been such a success.”

Williams said the association looked forward to hosting the tournament again next year.

“The highlight was the unity between players more than then getting a medal. In spite of the teams’ cultural differences, we all learnt a lot from each other. The SA team played exceptionally well, as individuals and as teams,” said Williams.