FISTF International Open and Grand Prix of Malta – Valletta 2018
On Saturday 28th April 2018 was the first day of the FISTF International Open & Grand Prix of Malta – Valletta 2018.
Two rival clubs from Valletta, the Valletta Subbuteo Club and the Valletta Lions TFC agreed to organise this tournament together on this special year of Valletta 2018.
This International tournament was held at the Mediterranean Conference Centre and the main sponsor was the Malta Tourism Authority.
On Saturday the individual competitions kicked off in the morning with the participation of 10 countries, Malta, Italy, France, Spain, Germany, Australia, Greece, Scotland, Russia and Tunisia.
In the Open category of the International Open competition there were 26 participants. The finalists were Samuel Bartolo of Valletta Subbuteo Club against the Belgian player Christope Dheur of Charleroi SC. The winner was Samuel Bartolo with the score 1-0.
In the veteran category there were 15 participants. Mario Camilleri played his final against the Belgian player Vito di Ruggiero of Charleroi. Mario Camilleri was the winner with the score of 2-0,
In the U19 category there was a high level of competition. The Greek player Dimitris Dimopolous played his final against the Italian player Armando Giuffre from Messina SC. Armando Giuffre won this category with the score of 1-0.
Late in the afternoon, the Grand Prix team event began. A team from Greece and another from Italy are participating together with the Maltese teams. The team competition will continue tomorrow on Sunday 29th April. The tournament will start at 9.00am and at 8pm there will be the presentations.
Sunday 29th April 2018
On Sunday the team competitions continued with the semi-finals.
The semi-final matches were between Valletta Subbuteo Club vs Valletta Lions TFC and Bormla Subbuteo Club vs Messina SC.
Valletta Subbuteo Club and Bormla Subbuteo Club were the finalists. The players of Valletta Subbuteo Club were Derek Conti, Joseph Borg Bonaci, Samuel Bartolo and the Belgian player Pascal Scheen. The players for Bormla Subbuteo Club were Charlie Aquilina, Joseph Mifsud, George Ebejer/Mark Gauci and the Greek player Alberto di Maggio.
It was a very tough final, and they had to go to the extra time. Valletta Subbuteo Club won the match by ‘sudden death’ a goal scored by Joseph Borg Bonaci against Joseph Mifsud.
The Grand Prix Individual competitions started right after the team event.
In the Grand Prix Open Category Samuel Bartolo of Valletta Subbuteo Club played the final against the French Axel Donval. The result of the match even after the extra time was draw so it was decided by ‘shots’. Samuel Bartolo won 4-2, making a double for himself.
In the Veteran Category again we have a Valletta Subbuteo Club player who won the double for himself as he won agaist the Italian Lucio Canicchio with ‘shots’ 4-3
The Greek Dimitris Dimopolous won the U19 Category against Jamie Bonnici with the score 2-0
These type of tournaments in Malta are increasing their level each year.
A lot of foreign players look forward to come and participate in Malta. During this weekend we had some distinctive visitors, Hon Deo Debattista, Hon Ryan Callus , Pierre Fenech the CEO of MCC and others.