Mifsud reaches Brussels final

Veteran players Hansel Mallia and Joseph Mifsud have just taken part in the Grand Prix of Belgium in Brussels.

Besides figuring in the singles tournament for veterans on Day Two of the Grand Prix, Mallia was also involved in the competition for teams where he played for Belgian club AS Hennuyer.

Twenty-six teams were split into six groups. Mallia contributed with a perfect score in the round-robin phase and won all his matches for Hennuyer to qualify for the quarter-finals.

Mallia's team, however, were unlucky to go out in sudden death when another Belgian club, SC Charleroi, went through with a golden goal after a drawn result in normal time. Hennuyer had to settle for seventh place overall.

Mifsud was making his debut in tournaments for veteran players while Mallia took part in the Open competition. The latter was knocked out in the Last 16 stage by Austria's Robert Lenz 2-1 (golden goal). Valery Dejardin, of Belgium, won the Open.

Mifsud fared better in his category which featured the participation of 36 players. He was not among the top 10 seeds but finished on top of his group before eliminating Ron Corsten, Erich Hinkelmann and Torino's Paolo Finardi to reach the final.

Top seed Martyn Bomm, of Holland, found it hard to cope with Mifsud's play at first but a late goal swayed the tie in his favour as the Maltese player had to be content with the runner-up position.

In Malta, the next Malta Table Football Sports Association competition will be held on December 13 in Ħamrun.