Over the past weekend, Malta got itself a World Cup winner out of England as Mario Camilleri won the Veterans Category at the Eland Cables FISTF World Cup held in Tunbridge Wells, Kent.
In the semi finals, Camilleri beat reigning champion, Italy’s Gianfranco Calonico, 3-2, to earn a place in the final. In the final itself, Camilleri faced Greece’s Antonio’s Kastellanos.
Following a 1-1 draw in regular time, Camilleri emerged victorious having won 3-2 on shots.
Malta also won itself a bronze medal in this category as Charlie Aquilina made the semifinals, before being eliminated by Kastellanos with a narrow scoreline of 1-0.
In the Open category, Malta had two quarterfinalists. Jurgen Balzan made the quarter finals where he met Belgium’s Bessim Golger. After a tense 2-2 draw in regular time, Golger came out on top after a shootout.
Samuel Bartolo also made the quarter finals of this competition
where he lost out to eventual winner, Dimitrios Dimopoulos from Greece, 2-0.
In the Under 16 category, Robert Farrugia Randon also made the quarter finals where he was eliminated by reigning champion, Francesco Manfredelli from Italy, who later went on to retain his title.
Another winner for Malta in the Flats competition, which was played with the game’s old rules. Here, it was George Ebejer who emerged victorious after beating Englishman Dave Cullett 2-1 in the final.
In the teams event, Malta won yet another bronze medal thanks to the Open team. Malta topped their group with maximum points, beating Tunisia, Japan and hosts England on their way to the knockouts. In the quarter finals, Malta faced France where we emerged winners
3-1. The team then went on to face Belgium in the semi finals. Here, Malta was narrowly beaten 2-1.
The team was composed of Jurgen Balzan, Samuel Bartolo, Jamie Bonnici,
Derek Conti, George Ebejer, Mark Gauci and Jean Tabone.
The Veterans team also won their group with maximum points. Malta faced France, Gibraltar and Singapore in their group, winning all their matches. Unfortunately, Malta suffered a 2-1 defeat to Belgium in the quarter finals of this competition. The team was composed of
Charlie Aquilina, Mario Camilleri, Frank Chetcuti Dimech, Patrick Pace, Jason Pisani, Joseph Mifsud and John Zammit.
The Maltese contingent returned to Malta on Monday evening with travels aided by SportMalta and the Maltese Olympic Committee.
