A full house 32 players participated in the Union Club Open organised by Malta Squash. Four categories were contested - the Men A, Mixed AB, MEN B, and Mixed C .

In the MEN A Open ttop players Matheus Antunes from Brazil overcame Ivan Balzan easily in the first round but had to battle hard against national team player Carl Camilleri in the semifinal. The match ended with a 2-1 win for the Brazilian. Gary Nitscke from Australia, seeded number 1, won against Robert Sultana and Arthur Castillo to reach the final. The final was a hard hitting but very precise game. Gary, however, proved to be too strong and ended up winning the tournament without dropping a single set.

In the MEN B, the final was between Sandro Zammit and Junior (16) Jean Balzan. Jean beat French man Emanuel Le Goff in the first round. In the semifinals he played veteran and number 2 seed Geoff Brousson ending up the winner 2-1.

Sandro had to overcome a well improved Jason Stivala and American Erik Nelson to make it to the final. The final went to five sets. Jean showed his improvement when being 2 sets to 1 down kept calm to capture his first open tournament win.

Fresh from a second place in the Juniors U-17 Malta Open this augurs well for this young athlete.

Together with Colette Sultana, on her way to her first GSSE games next week, and Kimberley Cauchi just returning from her second international experience in the Polish Open, this augurs well for the future of Squash in Malta.

The AB Mixed Category saw Martina Kakasova from Czech Republic win her second tournament in Malta. Martina beat Jonathan Sammut in his first experience in this higher division and Johanna Rizzo in the semifinal Johanna gave Martina a hard time showing that she is well prepared for the Liechtenstein Games next week. Theresa Brousson showed that she is peaking at the right moment both in Squash and in fitness winning in straight sets against Matthew Borg and Peter Wirth respectively .

The C Category is becoming increasingly more popular. This event is open to mostly beginners or lower division players and gives everyone a chance to compete in Open competition without the fear of having to play against much better players and being put off.

Russel Schembri and Andy Borg contested the final . Borg won against Aron Sant and Lithuanian Ugnius Kasperavisius to earn his place in the final. Schembri had to overcome Italian Giuseppe Della Volpe and a much improved Sandra Wismayer in the semifinal.

The final went to four sets with some interesting rallies. Russels’ speed on court had the better of Andy’s precise shots and Russel won 3-1. Winners and Runners up where presented vouchers and rackets by the main sponsor Erik Nelson on behalf of FMG FUNDS LTD.