Cremona beats Verhagen to claim Scottish Open

Massimo Cremona recently won his first International Open in the FISTF Circuit when in South Queensferry, Scotland, he dominated the final against world no.1 Eric Verhagen, of Holland, to win the contest 4-1.

With this success Cremona put aside the upset of losing two finals this season against Verhagen, in Ireland and England.

Cremona, who started the tournament no.11, produced excellent form in Scotland. In the quarter-finals he eliminated Austrian Thomas Wittman 3-1 and in the last four he beat world no.12 Robert Lenz 5-2.

In the Grand Prix another Maltese player, Charles Aquilina, made it to the final but lost to England's Darren Clark 1-2. In the semi-finals, Aquilina beat Lenz 1-0 but Cremona was beaten by Clark 2-0.

Other Maltese players who took part in the Scottish events were Joseph Mifsud, Hansel Mallia and Josef Camilleri.

Belfast Grand Prix

Mifsud had a better showing in the Belfast Grand Prix last weekend.

The Valletta Subbuteo Club member, who plays for ACS Perugia, reached the final in Northern Ireland but was beaten by Belgium's David Ruelle, seventh in the world rankings.

In the last 32 round, Mifsud eliminated Ireland's Gary Moore 5-0 and then ousted team-mate Mallia 1-0.

Mifsud continued to show progress. He beat Verhagen 2-1 in the quarter-final and Clark 1-0 in the semi-final but failed to maintain his form in the final which he lost 2-0.