Cremona reaches Denmark Gran Prix final

Massimo Cremona made it all the way to the final of the Denmark Gran Prix, held recently in Odense.

He was narrowly beaten by Eric Verhagen (who now holds UK citizenship) 1-2.

It was a balance encounter and the honours could have gone either way. There were no goals in the opening half but Verhagen took the lead just after the break with Cremona levelling matters soon after.

Verhagen grabbed the winning goal three minutes from time.

In the group stages, Cremona beat Germany's Michael Stolzenburg 2-0 and Danish pair Ibrahim Bayoumi, 4-1, and Thyge Ene-voldsen, 3-0.

In the last 16 stage, he eliminated Bjarke Larsen 5-0 and in the quarter-final Cremona beat Rasmus Lund 4-0.

The semi-final, against Anders Buhl Hansen, was a tougher proposition for the Maltese player as he had to show character after finding himself a goal down. Cremona eventually overturned the result to win 2-1 and secure a place in the final.

Verhagen tops world rankings

In the world rankings, published by world body FISTF for the month of February, Cremona retained his no.3 position with 2,268.70 points.

First place belongs to Verhagen with 4,732.50 points. He is followed by Spain's Carlos Flores on 2,845.13 points.

Italy's Daniele Bertelli follows on 2,194 and fifth place is occupied by Englishman Bennett with 1,998.23 points.

Next weekend, Cremona, together with his club Perugia, of Italy, will be taking part in the Major of Mons in Belgium.