Charlie Aquilina World Veteran Champion
A positive weekend for Malta in Table Football when last weekend Charlie Aquilina was crowned World Veteran Champion 2018. The FISTF World Cup was held in Gibraltar.
The individual competitions were held on Saturday, with over 200 athletes from 18 countries. In the Open category the Maltese players were Derek Conti, Massimo Cremona, Samuel Bartolo and Joseph Borg Bonaci. They all passed the group stage. Massimo Cremona beaten in the last 32 when he lost against Samuel Bartolo (3-0). Derek Conti was beaten by Joseph Borg Bonaci (32) in the last 32 as well. Samuel Bartolo made it to the last sixteen and was stopped by the Italian Saverio Bari (3-2). Joseph Borg Bonaci obtained the best result in this category when he made it to the quarter final, but unfortunately was beater by the Belgian player Justin Leroy (2-1). Matteo Ciccarelli won the title in this category.
Charlie Aquilina, Joseph Mifsud, Mario Camilleri, Jason Pisani and John Zammit represented Malta in the Veteran category. They all passed the group stage. Jason Pisani and John Zammit made it till last 32. Jason Pisani played against the Spanish Luis Lopez and until the extra time they were draw, the game was decided by shots and unfortunately Pisani was beaten (4-3). John Zammit played against John Field from Gibraltar and lost 4-3. Joseph Mifsud and Mario Camilleri made it till the last 16. Joseph Mifsud lost against Patrick Dean from Gibraltar (1-0) and Mario Camilleri lost against the Italian Gianfranco Calonico (1-0). In this category the title came to Malta, when Charlie Aquilina continued to advance to the final. Charlie Aquilina won the semifinal against the Italian Gianfranco Calonico (3-2). The final was a very intensive game between the Maltese and the Belgian Pascal Scheen, but Aquilina was the winner with the score 21. This title has a double meaning for Malta as we never won this title in this category.
Jurgen Balzan played in the under 19 category and made it to the quarter final. He lost the quarter final against the Italian Nicolo Borgo (5-1). Marco Di Vito was titled Champion in this category.
The team competitions were held on Sunday and Malta participated in both the Open and Veteran categories. The Open team was formed by Derek Conti (Captain), Samuel Bartolo, Massimo Cremona, Joseph Borg Bonaci and Jurgen Balzan. The Open team passed the group stage in second position and continued until the quarter final. The quarter final was played against the Italian team. Malta was winning in the first half, but Italy managed to draw in the second half and thus extra time had to be given. Unfortunately, the Golden Goal by Matteo Ciccarelli stopped the Maltese team. Spain was the winning team in this category.
The Veteran team was formed by Charlie Aqiulina (captain), Jason Pisani, Joseph Mifsud, Mario Camilleri and John Zammit. Unfortunately, the veteran team did not pass the group stage. The Italian team won this category.
The Maltese contingent arrived in Malta early today. While the MTFSA congratulated Charlie Aquilina for bringing the title to Malta and making a name for himself, it also expressed that the association is proud that although it is a small association, it brings great honours to Malta.