"Tecnifibre" International Open

‘TECNIFIFRE’ INTERNATIONAL MALTA OPEN
BRAD HINDLE DEGUARA CHAMPION.

Brad Hindle Deguara is the new Tecnifibre Malta Open Squash champion, winning the title after defeating former champion and Malta’s number 1 Mike Fiteni. The final played between two of the best players ever to visit Malta, was a display of squash at the highest level. Brad who is a world ranked professional (64 in PSA Rankings) edged out Mike by simply wearing him down with his stamina and accurate shots. His strategy of waiting patiently for an opening before attacking in lightning fast fashion paid dividends as he won with a convincing 3-0 score line. Brad became eligible to play for Malta only last week and will compete in the forthcoming commonwealth games.

The Ladies Open was won by the ever green Theresa Brousson (Camilleri) who beat Johanna Rizzo 3 sets to 1 in a game that had everyone present on the edge of their seats. Theresa continues to dominate the local squash scene and impress with her pinpoint accurate nicks and drops. Meanwhile Johanna showed her determination and amazing fitness level by running down every shot at each end of the court.

On the Junior front twenty three children, ages ranging from seven to fifteen took part in this year’s Junior Malta Squash Open.

They were divided into age categories of under fifteen years and under thirteen years and each category was further split into another two sections with the good players playing in the ‘A’ and the improvers playing in the ‘B’.

Ryan Rizzo, who won the under 13 ‘A’ category seems to be following in his parents’ footsteps. He beat all four of his opponents with relative ease and at the rate at which he is improving he should have no problems playing against the older kids when he moves into the under 15 category. Zach Farrugia, who came second, is another junior who is very keen and shows a lot of promise.

The rules had to be bent slightly for the under thirteens in the ‘B’ section. Here the emphasis was on fun and making sure that all the kids felt that they were part of the tournament. This category was won by Benjie Balzan, closely followed by Sam Bonello Ghio. Benjie was a late entrant, because he agreed to play instead of someone who dropped out at the last minute.

Colette Sultana was in a class of her own in the under 15 ‘A’ category. The other four opponents all put up a great fight but the intensive training she puts in and the experience she is gaining by playing in tournaments abroad, showed. Benjie’s brother Jean Balzan was runner up and with Ivan Balzan as their father one can see where they both get their talent from.

Another player who is improving very fast is John Montebello, the winner of the under 15 ‘B’ section. Although he has not been playing very long, he moves very well on court. Runner up was Nicole Spiteri who with her calm attitude and long reach, retrieves balls which her opponents would have already thought were winners.

Our thanks go to everyone who helped to make this tournament one of the best junior one so far.