Grixti wins U-19 crown for second year running

Thurston Grixti has won the U-19 championship for the second year in a row when, in a repeat of last year's final, he beat Aaron Busuttil 5-3 at the Anglo Maltese League, Valletta.

This is Grixti's fourth title in a national junior competition after the U-16 and U-18 championships in 2006 and the U-19 title last year.

Busuttil took the first frame on the black after Grixti went in-off on the brown when clearing the colours.

Grixti responded by clinching the next three frames to go into the mid-session interval 3-1 up.

When play resumed, Busuttil reacted well by claiming the next two frames and level the match at 3-3. However, Grixti again showed maturity to win the next two frames for a final score of 5-3.

The match was controlled by international referee Emric Ellul.

At the end of the final, MBSA president Joe Caruana Curran presented the trophies to the finalists.

Grixti and Busuttil, along with losing semi-finalists Matthias Mallia and Shaun Sultana, have been nominated by the MBSA to represent the country in the U-19 European Championships, to be held in St Petersburg, Russia, between March 21 and 26.

Mintoff top master

Frans Mintoff has secured the Masters (over-40) title for the second year in a row after a 5-4 win over Tony Mifsud. The match was played at the Duke of Connaught club, Birkirkara. Michael Farrugia was the referee.

Mintoff and Mifsud will form part of the Malta team for the European Masters tournament in St Petersburg next month.