The MTFSA organised the Malta Knock Out competition recently in which 16 players took part. The Knock-Out is the second major competition as its winner will represent Malta in the FISTF World Cup competition to be held in France this summer.

Some big names suffered an early elimination. One of them was Malta's top player Massimo Cremona who lost to Joseph Mifsud 2-1 in extra time. After this game, Mifsud faced Hansel Mallia who had just won against Charles Aquilina.

However, Mallia, who won this competition last year, lost 2-1 in extra time against Mifsud who then faced Samuel Bartolo in the semi-final.

Another surprising result was the early elimination of Stefan Pace, after he lost to Josef Camilleri on shoot outs.

In the semi-final stage, Samuel Bartolo won against Joe Mifsud on shoot outs after the match ended on a tight 2-2, while in the other semi final, Mark Gauci beat Josef Camilleri 3-2. Gauci won against Roma's Derek Conti 4-1.

In the final, Bartolo performed to his maximum and won over Gauci 2-0.

Bartolo won this competition for the first time to confirm the positive period he is going through. Thus, Bartolo will be the third Maltese player after Massimo Cremona and Joe Mifsud to be nominated to represent Malta in this summer's World Cup.

Meanwhile at the weekend, it was made known that Joseph Mifsud had signed to play for Sicilian club Palermo in the Italian league next season.