Sofoklis Mpitsakos won S.O.F.T. 2023 Open in Limassol

One of the greatest bowling events in Cyprus - the S.O.F.T. 2023 Open - concluded yesterday at the 'Alien bowling center' in Limassol. A total of 129 athletes from 11 countries have competed for almost 15000€ prize pool.

Players took part in two categories - General and B-Bowlers.

Slovak David Barak posted 1306 pins over 5 games of qualification, to lead all 129 participants. He advanced straight to the final step 3, alongside Alfonso Palestre of Italy (1246 pins), Iraklis Kyriacou of Cyprus (1242 pins), and George Chaniotis of Greece (1218 pins).

Palestre was one of three bowlers who had a perfect game throughout the whole competition.

Martina Schuets of Germany, Giannis Stathatos of Greece, and two bowlers from Cyprus - Evripidis Hadjicharalambous and Sofoklis Mpitsakos - joined the four best performers in qualification after a successful game in the final step 2.

Quarter-finals were played counting a three-game total of all participants. Giannis Stathakos (730 pins), David Barak (690 pins), Evripidis Hadjicharalambous (641 pins) and Sofoklis Mpitsakos (580 pins) advanced to the semifinals.

David Barak of Slovakia left no chance for Evripidis Hadjicharalambous in the semi-final, winning both game 1 and game 2, while Sofoklis Mpitsakos overcame Giannis Stathatos by 28 pins.

Slovak David Barak started off strong in the final two-game match for the title, winning the first game 220-204. However, Sofoklis Mpitsakos defeated the top seed opponent in the second game 242-206 and it was just enough to claim his S.O.F.T. 2023 Open trophy with the final result 426-446.

Michalis Hadjiyiannis of Cyprus became a champion in the B-Bowlers category, defeating his compatriot Andreas Andreou 453-415 (221-183; 232-232).

S.O.F.T. Open is an annual bowling event, calling all bowlers across Europe. The results of the S.O.F.T 2023 Open can be found here.