The sixth amateur international tournament organised by the Malta University Sports Club is being held on Saturday at the Sports Hall at Tal-Qroqq.

Taking part in this year’s event will be teams from Malta, Ireland and Germany. Two other teams, from Palermo and Catania, unfortunately cancelled their participation – citing financial reasons – at the last minute after having already confirmed their presence in Malta. They have even sent in the names of their athletes and officials.

This was announced yesterday morning by Lawrence Attard, organiser of the event, during a news conference at the Topaz Hotel of Bugibba, which is one of the main sponsors of the tournament.

He said the event was in its sixth year now and it was increasing in popularity. He added that this year will see a large number of Maltese wrestlers taking part – between 30 and 35, in fact.

The three Maltese teams taking part are the University, the Furtu Selvatico School of Naxxar and Stella Maris College. The other teams are from Ireland (six wrestlers) and Germany (14 wrestlers). The Germans have been here every year.

A special tournament is being organised for youngsters from nurseries. Three Maltese boys from the University Club nursery and three German boys will be taking part. It is the first time such a tournament is being held.

Attard thanked the sponsors who include the Kunsill Malti ghall-Isport (KMS), the Topaz Hotel, the Bank of Valletta, Malta Tourism Authority and GR Trophies of Qormi.

Michael Aquilina, of the University of Malta, spoke about the importance of such tournaments which help locals get prepared for commitments against other foreigners in international tournaments. He also urged local enthusiasts to attend Saturday’s tournament at the University Sports Hall and give their support to the locals.

He went on to thank the KMS and the local Wrestling Federation for providing their support as was the case in the past.

The event on Saturday is to start at 9.30am.

The following are some of the Maltese taking part in the event:

University team: Abraham Vassallo, George Vassallo, Robert Bonavia, Winston Bartolo, Johann Camilleri, David Galea, David Sant, Andrea Gonzi, Christian Sammut, Joshua Singh, Stefan Cutajar.

Furtu Selvatico team: Kule Debono, Charlon Borg, Rene Coleiro, Dunken Farrugia, Jonathan Gatt, Gary Giordmaina.

Stella Maris: Aidan Buhagiar, Karl Paris, Joshua Bell, Toni Borg, Adam Vella, Matthew Bonnici, Dalsimo Zahra, Raphael Buttigieg, Chris Cortis, Jean Pierre Zerafa, Emmanuel Schembri, Philip Galea, Alberto Zagami, Nicky Azzopardi, Edward Zingariello, Matthew Schembri.

Artern team (Germany): Tim Salzmann, Sebastian Schaar, Philip Schroder, Morris Freund, Floriana Muchow, Tim-Hermann Feindt, Philip Tretin, Ken Finke, Sebastian Brehme, Steven Koglin, Bill Kulbida.

Hercules team (Ireland): Keith Kennedy, Daniel Kennedy, Brent Dugan, Yury Minutenko, Zhivko Stoyanov, Paul Gray.