In the Division One individual category, very much was expected from the local talents where the MTFSA organised three divisions on the last day.
Eight players in each division had to battle between each other and the one who obtained most points was to be crowned champion.
Division One was the most awaited of all. Eight top Maltese players competed against each other. Massimo Cremona had to defend his title won last year but he only managed to share third place along with Mark Gauci.
Derek Conti, on the day was in top form and he did not lose any matches to obtain his first local major title. Wins over Stafan Pace, Joe Mifsud, Mark Gauci and Charles Aquilina were enough for him to finish the best of these Islands for this season.
He obtained draws against Cremona, Joe Borg Bonaci and Samuel Bartolo to obtain a total of 15 points, three ahead of Aquilina who, for the second successive season, could not reach further than the second place on the podium.
Mark Gauci was third with the same points as Cremona. With this success, Conti also won the right to become the No 1 player to represent Malta next August in the World Cup to be held in France.
Division Two
Missing Division One for just few points, Hansel Mallia had to play in Division two. He was top seeded in this division and in fact he won six of his seven matches losing one to Kenneth Attard. Both obtained the same number of points.
Thus a decider had to be played and Mallia won 4-3 with a goal in the last moments of the extra time as normal time was not enough to crown the Second Division champion. Mark Zammit obtained third place three points away from the second position.
Division Three
New talented boy Angelo Borg dominated Division Three winning all his matches.
Throughout this competition he showed good skills and moves as if he has been playing for ages. He finished six points clear ahead of the second place Brandon Farrugia and 14 points ahead of Darren Bezzina who finished third.
Teams
Even though the Maltese Association has five active clubs registered, only three participated to the MTFSA Seniors Clubs’ League. The competition in the Seniors League was organised between Hamrun TFC and Valletta SC.
The first match was drawn 2-2. In match two, Hamrun won 2-0. Hamrun’s victories were obtained by Mario Camilleri and Kenneth Attard in the first match, and Kenneth Attard and Patrick Pace in the second. Valletta’s victories in the first match were registered by Mario Camilleri and Roderick Sciberras.
On the same day, the MTFSA organised the U/19 Clubs’ League after an absence of several years. Three teams were involved with Hamrun TFC having two teams and St. Aloysius College being the third competitor. During the first match Hamrun ‘A’ won in style by beating Hamrun ‘B’ 3-1.
St Aloysius College, being a newcomer to this sport, did not create any harm to both Hamrun teams and they ended up losing both matches.
With the first match won, Hamrun ‘A’ had just to win a point from their second match, but went on winning 3-0 to obtain the U/19 Clubs’ title.