The team representing the Marsa Sports Club achieved a well deserved second place in the 2007 Poznan inter-city squash challenge recently.

The Marsa team started with two 5-3 victories against the teams from Tychy and Warsaw before losing in an entertaining final match 6-1 to the hosts and tournament favourites Poznan.

In the individual 'A' event Nigel Dunkerley, who had previously voiced his ambitions of a 'top three finish' realised that overseas competition is a lot tougher than the local competition here in Malta. Dunkerley, seeded 3, went out in the second round to Jacek Krzywosz but went on to finish a credible fifth. The final was won by Sebastian Bernard, Poznan, who defeated Jacek Krzywosz, Poznan, 2-1.

In the 'B' event Mark Wright and Alex Scerri both did well to reach the semi-finals. Wright put up a courageous fight against Michal Swoboda before loosing 2-0 while Scerri was able to gain revenge for his 2-1 defeat in the team event by defeating Daniel Jaworowicz 2-1.

The final was extremely close with both players competing at their limits. In the end, Swoboda managed to edge home and secure a clean sweep of victories for the players from Poznan.

The overall opinion of the players from Marsa was extremely positive. 'Excellent organisation, perfect hosts, friendly, polite, fantastic trip, can't wait for next year', were just a few of the comments. "Matches were won and lost, friendships and experiences gained" summed up the four-day trip.

Paul Lake, the trip promoter and organiser, said: "the whole event was played with the correct attitude of competitiveness together with fair play and respect for the opponent. The Maltese players were able to visit the old town market, Polish museums, some of the historical towns close to Poznan, and get a close up of some of the aspects of Polish life making the trip a sporting and cultural experience for all involved".

The 2008 inter-city squash team challenge will be held in Tychy, Southern Poland, in May or June and the unanimous verdict of the Maltese players was "we'll be there for sure!"