Valletta Subbuteo Club emerged victorious in the team competition at the Ludwigsburg Grand Prix in Germany after defeating fellow Maltese side Bormla Subbuteo Club 2-1 in an all-Maltese final.
Both clubs produced outstanding performances throughout the tournament, each conceding just one point during the group stage before comfortably finishing top of their respective groups.
Valletta secured their place in the final with an emphatic 4-0 victory over Belgium’s Subbuteo Club Lion’s Eugies in the semi-finals, while Bormla edged past ST Stembert of Belgium 2-1 to book their spot in the decider.
Valletta’s title-winning team consisted of Mark Gauci, Derek Conti, Christophe Dheur and Kurt Polidano. Bormla were represented by Charles Aquilina, Jason Pisani, George Ebejer, Bessim Golger and Josef Camilleri.
In the Open category, Bormla’s George Ebejer enjoyed an impressive run to the semi-finals before losing to eventual champion Christophe Dheur of Belgium. Ebejer topped his group before defeating Belgium’s Geoffrey Marain 4-2 in the Round of 16 and Jerome Heyvaert 2-0 in the quarter-finals.
Club teammate Josef Camilleri also progressed to the Round of 16 after finishing second in his group, but his campaign was likewise ended by Dheur.
Bormla also enjoyed success in the Veterans category, where Charles Aquilina reached the final before narrowly losing 4-3 to Belgium’s D. Scheen.
Aquilina advanced through the competition by winning his group and overcoming Austria’s D. Busch in the semi-finals on shots following a 1-1 draw.
John Zammit also topped his group and progressed to the semi-finals, where he was edged out 3-2 by Scheen, while Jason Pisani won his group before being eliminated by Busch in the quarter-finals.
The participation of the Maltese players in the international event was made possible through the continued support of VisitMalta, SportMalta and the Maltese Olympic Committee.
