ITF U-18 ranking tournament at Marsa

The International Tennis Federation (ITF) U-18 ranking tournament gets underway at the Marsa Sports Club today.

The event opens the Malta Tennis Federation's 2006 calendar of international tournaments to be hosted here. These include the return of the Davis Cup in summer along with the Junior Tennis Europe U-14 and U-16 competitions between July and August.

There are 88 boys and 44 girls in the qualifying rounds of the U-18 tournament. The main draw, starting on Monday, will include 48 boys and 36 girls. The finals will be played on March 31 and April 1.

Malta will be represented by Matthew Asciak, Clayton Zammit, Alan Calleja, Denzil Agius, Malcolm Ferrante, Omar Suzuka, Elaine Genovese, Stephanie Sullivan, Kimberly Cassar and Angela Bartolo among others.

The entry list, which sees players from most major tennis countries taking part, includes a substantial number of juniors with an ITF ranking under the 500-point mark.

The tournament is sponsored by Wilson, locally represented by Gordon Asciak's Tennis Promotions Company Ltd, and San Michel.