The Malta Table Football Sports Association last weekend organised the FISTF international Open of Malta at the Msida Melita Band Club.

Four categories were played during this competition – Open, Veteran, Under 19 and the team event.

The Under 19 category was won by Angelo Borg (Piraeus Lions TSC) after beating Darren Bezzina (SPQR MMIX Roma) 4-0. The semifinalists were Tristan Fenech (Bormla Subbuteo Club) and Adam Gatt (Piraeus Tigers).

Jason Pisani (Valletta SC) won the Veteran category after beating Patrick Pace (SS Lazio TFC) 1-0, in a very balanced match. To reach the final, Jason and Patrick eliminated Stefano Tagliaferri (SS Lazio TFC) and Mario Camilleri (Bormla Subbuteo Club) in the semifinals. This was Jason’s first international tournament win, after losing two finals.

In the team event, Valletta Subbuteo Club “A” finished first with maximum points, after winning all four games they played. They started off by beating Valletta Subbuteo Club “B” 4-0, Attard Subbuteo Club 4-0, Bormla Subbuteo Club 3-1 and SS Lazio TFC 3-0. The team was composed of Derek Conti (capt), Joseph Borg Bonaci, Samuel Bartolo, Mario Camilleri and Andrew Abela. Bormla Subbuteo Club finished second and SS Lazio TFC third.

The Open category was won by Samuel Bartolo (Valletta Subbuteo Club) who beat Massimo Cremona (ASD F.illi Bari) 4-3 in a very entertaining final.

To reach the final, Bartolo eliminated Hansel Mallia (SC Fiamme Azzurre CM) 3-1 in the quarter finals, and Mark Gauci (ATLAS) 4-0 in the semis, while Cremona eliminated George Ebejer (Bormla Subbuteo Club) 6-1 and had the better off Mario Camilleri (Valletta Subbuteo Club) by 1-0, in a very balanced game.

The head referee of the tournament was Tony Sapiano, who is the president of the Maltese Table Football Association.