The Bank of Valletta championship 2011 will see the return of Valletta to competitive water-polo in Malta and will see nine teams competing for the coveted BOV Water-polo championship.
A new feature in this year’s championship is that the nine teams will be split into two seeded groups instead of a single league. Teams will now get three points for a win, and one point for a draw. At the end of the Preliminary Round, there will be play-offs between clubs in corresponding positions in each group. The top five teams will qualify for Division I while the other four clubs will play in the Division II league. The Division I League will be determined by means of a series of play-offs. The championship will culminate in a best-of-five series between the two finalists.
The fixtures for the championshipwere drawn by Peter Perotti, Chief Officer at Bank of Valletta and Joe Caruana Curran, ASA President, during a press conference held at the Bank’s Head Office in St Venera.
“Bank of Valletta and the Aquatic Sports Association of Malta have collaborated extensively to create greater competitivity in the national waterpolo competitions,” said Perotti. “Unlike previous seasons, the championship finals will be the last games of the season, with knockout competitions played earlier, and the five game series will definitely keep the fans on edge to see which team will be crowned champions this year.”
ASA president Joe Caruana Curran said: “The first game of this year’s championship will be played on 7 June and the first month of competition will give the national team players an excellent competitive warm up to Malta’s commitments against Turkey on 28 June and against Poland on 1 July.
“We are very happy to welcome Valletta back in into the championship although unfortunately Marsaxlokk will not be competing this year.”
The following are the fixtures for the BOV Waterpolo Championship 2011 as drawn:
Preliminary round
Group A: 7 June Neptunes-Ta’Xbiex; Exiles-Valletta; 10 June Ta’ Xbiex-Valletta; 12 June Valletta-Neptunes; Exiles-Sirens; 15 June Sirens-Neptunes; 17 June Ta’ Xbiex-Exiles; Valletta-Sirens; 19 June Sirens-Ta’ Xbiex; Neptunes-Exiles
Group B: 8 June San Giljan-Otters; Marsascala-Sliema; 10 June Sliema-Otters; 15 June San Giljan-Marsascala; 18 June Otters-Marsascala; Sliema-San Giljan.