by Arnold Farrugia
Dwayne Pullicino is the winner of the BOV Masters Top 8 Tournament 2023. Pullicino beat Mark Schranz 6-2 6-1 in the final of the tournament with Mark Gatt as umpire.
The BOV Masters Top 8 Tennis Tournament is the last tennis tournament of they calendar year organised by the Malta Tennis Federation and features the top 8 ranked players who are eligible to represent Malta in international events.
Pullicino broke Schranz’s first serve, but Schranz immediately got the break back to level the score at 1-1. Pullicino broke Schranz’s service again and won his serve to go 3-1 up. Schranz won his first service game to go 3-2 but Pullicino proceeded to win the next three games to seal the first set 6-2.
The first game of the second set was a 20-minute thriller seeing Schranz losing his serve through a double fault. Pullicino proceeded to win the next 4 games to go 5-0. Schranz broke Pullicino’s serve to go 5-1 then Pullicino got the counter-break to seal the set 6-1 and the victory.
Vitor Cabral, ITF/Tennis Europe Development Officer presented the Winner’s trophy to Pullicino in the presence of Stefan Abela, CSR Manager at Bank of Valletta and David Farrugia Sacco, President of the Malta Tennis Federation.
Bank of Valletta’s is a major supporter of sporting initiatives in Malta, as part of its extensive Community Programme aimed at improving the quality of life of the community in which it operates by encouraging participation in healthy activities. This is the 14th consecutive edition of the BOV Tennis Masters Top 8 Tournament benefitting from the Bank’s support.
