The Malta National Ladies have won the fifth edition of the ENCC 2009 organised by the European Squash Federation in Poznan Poland. Twenty teams hailing from nine different countries including the hosts Poland, Ukraine, Isle of Man, GIbraltar, Cyprus, Estonia, Latvia, Russia and Croatia participated in this tournament.

The Ladies team was formed by Annabelle Olivieri Monroe, Theresa Brousson, Johanna Rizzo and Colette Sultana. Malta played against Cyprus in the final and won all three games without dropping a set.

Annabelle Olivieri had to work hard against the very experienced Cypriot Vaso Karasava, but still managed to win three games to nil. Johanna Rizzo was in a class of her own against the Cypriot number three player Antonia Aristisdemouo and also won by the same score line. Playing the dead rubber where only two sets are required for a win, team manager Ivan Balzan put in Colette Sultana at only 14 years of age in her first ever final. Colette currently ranked 21 in the European Under 15 ESF Ranking kept her composure and sealed a well deserved victory and first place for Malta. The girls did not drop a set in the whole tournament.

The men’s team had to do without Malta’s number two Mike Fiteni who is currently injured. Malta’s current number one, Brad Hindle Deguara a professional Squash player ranked 61 in the PSA world rankings had a great tournament winning all his games three nil against all opposition. Mark Lupi’s hamstring injury during a match against Gibraltar when Mark was leading 10/5 proved to be fatal for the team, missing the quarter final spot for a mere few points. The team also included Bernard Bugeja and Carl Camilleri. With the return of Fiteni next week, Malta is hoping to do well on home ground.

    Netvibes ShareFacebookTwitterDiggStumbleUponDeliciousBlogger PostYahoo MailAOL MailHotmailGmailShare/Bookmark

Related Articles: