MTTA to host first Small States of Europe Championship

The European Table Tennis Union (ETTU) has this year entrusted the Malta Table Tennis Association (MTTA) to organise two prestigious international events, both to be held later this month.

During the weekend of February 18 and 19, the first Small States of Europe Championship will be staged at the Cottonera Sports Complex. This tournament will see the participation of Andorra, Cyprus, Monaco, Isle of Man and Malta.

Malta will compete in both the men's and women's categories. Making up the men's team are Edward Baldacchino, Mark Azzopardi, Alex Soler, David Pace and Claudio Tufigno.

Johanna Grech, Roxanne Palla, Jessica Pace and Gayle Caruana are the four members of the women's team.

The players earmarked to represent Malta in this championship are under the guidance of coaches Alex Anastasi, Andrzeij Makowski and Mario Genovese.

Makowski and Simon Gerada, gold medal winners in the men's team event at the 2005 Andorra GSSE, will not figure in this tournament as the MTTA decided to rely on homegrown players, giving them a chance to gain more international experience.

The Polish-born Makowski has agreed to help the teams in a coaching capacity while Gerada will stay in Australia to continue his preparations for the Commonwealth Games, to be held in March in Melbourne.

The Small States of Europe Championship gets underway tomorrow week with the opening ceremony at 10 a.m.

The first matches from the men's team section will be played soon after with Malta launching its commitments against the Isle of Man while Cyprus face Monaco.

In the women's category, Malta's first opponents are Monaco. The round-robin tournament comes to a close with the final matches later on in the evening.

The singles competitions will be played on Sunday with the men's and women's finals scheduled for 3 p.m.

The programme of the Small States of Europe Championship is as follows:

Saturday, Feb. 18 - 10 a.m. Opening ceremony; 10.30 a.m. First session team events (men and women); 3 p.m. Second session; 5 p.m. Third session.

Sunday, Feb. 19 - 10 a.m. Singles' event (men and women). 3 p.m. Finals.

Referees' conference

Between February 24 and 26, the MTTA will be hosting a referees conference at the Golden Tulip Vivaldi Hotel.

Around 40 qualified table tennis referees from 15 European countries are expected to attend.

The main speakers of the conference are Richard Scruton and Cindy Leung, chairpersons of the ETTU and ITTF Umpires and Referees Committee respectively, and Colin Clement, the president of the ITTF Advisory Council.