MTFSA ranking tournaments
Cremona 15th in world list
The Malta Table Football Sports Association (MTFSA) recently organised two weekends of national ranking tournaments.
In the first competition, Joseph Borg Bonaci had the better of Charles Aquilina in the Open final 1-0.
In the U-19 category, Samuel Bartolo underlined his dominance with a 5-0 defeat of Mauro Camilleri while in the U-15, Clint Abela Wadge created a surprise by beating Andre Grima, one of the leading players at this level.
The veterans' class was again topped by Patrick Pace. He beat Mario Spiteri 1-0.
In the second weekend of competitions, the Open category witnessed a deserved success for Hansel Mallia. After a tense semi-final against Massimo Cremona, Mallia went on to clinch the honours, overcoming Adrian Bonnici 3-1.
Bartolo again won the U-19 final, this time against Patrick Psaila 4-0.
Lately, U-15 competitions have become much more balanced and this time the final produced a 1-0 victory for Jonathan Silvio at the expense of Grima.
With Pace skipping this tournament, Spiteri took full advantage in the veterans to take top spot after a 1-0 defeat of Tony Sapiano.
Following these tournaments, Aquilina and Borg Bonaci are joint leaders in the rankings with Ilai Zammit Marmara occupying third place.
They are followed by Cremona, Mifsud, Mallia, Gauci and Bartolo.
The top eight in the rankings will contest the title of Malta champion in the last tournament of the season.
Meanwhile, after his successful participation in recent international tournaments, Cremona has moved up to the 15th in the world rankings.
If retained, this position would guarantee Cremona automatic entry into the next World Cup.
Other Maltese players also enjoy commendable positions in the world rankings. Mifsud is 23, Mallia 29 and Aquilina 39.