Colette Sultana won two and lost another two matches in the Austrian Junior Open that was held in Vienna between 6 and 8 March.
She finished in 11th position from 22 participants, gaining valuable experience in the process, during this preparatory first year of competing in the Under 15 category
Sultana lost the first match against Michaela Malinova of Slovakia by the smallest of margins. The Maltese girl won the first two games 11-7, 11-5 but the Slovak managed to tie the match winning the next two games 11-6, 12-10, forcing a final deciding game.
This was again tied 10-10 with two clear points needed to take the match. Both players had a number of match points and the match could have easily gone either way before Malinova clinched it 15-13.
Sultana needed to put this close defeat behind her and remain focussed for her next match against Finnish no. 1 player Katariina Baston.
And she did this very well to take the first game 11-4. But Baston came out stronger in the second game and was leading 6-1 before the Maltese player managed to turn it round to win it 11-6.
Sultana continued to play well to win the final game 11-5 and gave no chance to the dangerous Finnish player to get back into the match.
Her next opponent was Karoline Holinkova from the Czech Republic. Although Sultana started well to win the first game 11-8, the Czech was better on the day and won the next three games 11-7 11-9 11-6.
Sultana finished the tournament strongly with a convincing win against Klaudia Zorgovska. The Maltese girl was too strong for the Slovak player and dominated the match from start to finish to win 11-2, 11-4, 11-8.
The Dutch Junior Open in July will be the next overseas tournament for Sultana and the last one for this European junior circuit season. This will be another tough tournament in preparation for next season, which runs from August 2009 to July 2010, when she will still be competing in the Under 15 category and hoping to challenge for a top European ranking position in this age group.
Colette Sultana is a member of the MOC Centre of Excellence and is receiving support through the MOC Youth Athlete Scheme, Malta Squash and the Marsa Sports Club. She is sponsored by Wilson and coached by Paul Lake.