International badminton recently made a welcome return to the local sports scene with the fifth edition of the Friendship Trophy, held over the last weekend at St Martin’s College, Swatar.
In its previous editions, this tournament had seen the participation of club teams from Italy, England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, Sweden and Germany.
For this year’s edition, the tournament featured four British teams: Comets BC, Horsforth BC, Wimbledon BC and Clandon BC. Local opposition was provided by Paola Wolves SC and Msida Arrows BC.
The Tournament was run in strict accordance with the Rules of the International Badminton Federation. On the first day of the event, the six squads were divided into two groups and played each other on a league basis over a single round. Each fixture consisted of five separate games: Men’s Singles, Ladies’ Singles, Men’s Doubles, Ladies’ Doubles and Mixed Doubles.
Horsforth topped Group A, after winning their encounters against Clandon (5-0) and Paola Wolves (4-1). The Wolves then clinched the runner-up berth with a 4-1 win over Clandon.
Comets topped Group B after winning their encounters against Wimbledon (3-2) and Msida Arrows (5-0). Wimbledon followed in second place after a 5-0 win over the locals.
In the final for first and second place played between the winners of each group, Comets won the tournament after defeating Horsforth 3-2. Paola Wolves had the better of Wimbledon, winning with an identical 3-2 scoreline, to take third place.
In the second day of the event, all the participating players took part in separate Men’s Singles and Ladies’ Singles competitions played on a knockout basis.
The Wolves’ captain Kenneth Vella made it to the Men’s Singles final after having obtained creditable wins over Nick Pinnock and Russell Binns. His opponent was the Horsforth captain, Craig Liversage, who had defeated Neil Parke and Robert Heuting.
Vella started on the right foot, taking the first set 15/7. However, Liversage reacted strongly and, after winning the second set 15/1, went on to clinch the third 15/11 to take the title.
The Ladies’ Singles final was contested by Comets team-mates Helen Steer and Romana Rehman. The former made the title her own with an 11/3 13/10 win over her opponent.
A spokesman for the local Badminton Association expressed satisfaction at the positive result obtained by the Paola Wolves squad in the tournament.
He stated that such events served to facilitate the further improvement of local players whilst strengthening the existing good relations between Maltese and British badminton.
The spokesman also thanked the Malta Olympic Committee, St Martin’s College and “Deutschland Minibus Services” for their valuable assistance and support.