Last Weekend, the Malta Table Football Sports Association organized the annual “Malta Open” Knock-Out competition as well as the individual national championships in the Veterans, Under-20, and Under-16 categories.
In the Malta Open, we had the confirmation of predictions when the Malta Champion Samuel Bartolo retained this title as well.
In the semifinals, we had George Ebejer who defeated Jason Pisani 2-1, while Samuel Bartolo had to struggle a lot when he was 0-2 down against Jean Carl Tabone to bring it to a 2-2 score with 10 seconds left in the match. In extra time (sudden death) he had moments where he could have easily conceded a goal, but he held firm to dominate in the penalties and won them 3-0, thus obtaining another national “Double” in his record of achievements.
In the Veterans category, we also had a final victory as predicted with Charlie Aquilina’s win. However, in the group stage, he suffered a significant 1-4 defeat against John Zammit. But in the semifinals, he advanced by a `walk-over` against Massimo Cremona to meet in the final against the same John Zammit, who in the other semifinal had defeated the highly rated Mario Camilleri with a score of 2-1.
The final was a different story, and this time, Aquilina bringing out all his experience to defeat John Zammit 2-1.
In the Under-16 category, we had Robert Farrugia Randon’s victory, where he dominated Gabriel Ebejer in the final, defeating him 5-0.
In the Under-20 category, it was a different story. Farrugia Randon faced a strong challenge from Thomas Ebejer, and in their direct encounter, they ended in a 4-4 draw.
Farrugia Randon won the title due to a better goal difference, making him the champion of both categories.
