Holders Neptunes face rivals Sliema in crunch opener

Holders Neptunes will face arch-rivals Sliema in the opening match of the 2009 BOV Winter League after the draws of the pre-season competition were held at the Aquatic Sports Association headquarters in Tal-Qroqq yesterday.

Seven teams have registered to take part in the competition which gets underway on Sunday, February 22. The other matches on the opening day are Sirens vs Marsascala and San Ġiljan vs Exiles. The Winter League will come to an end on Saturday, April 25.

The U-20 national team will also play in the Winter League as part of their preparations for the European Championship qualifiers, to be played in Malta a week after the end of the warm-up competition.

Last year, Neptunes clinched the Winter League title in exciting fashion as they needed extra-time to edge Sliema 7-6 in a nailbiting play-off. The Balluta Bay team have won the Winter League seven times.

The 2009 competition will be played on a round-robin format. At the end of the first stage, the top four teams will fight it out for the title while the remaining three teams will be involved in positional play-offs.

Robbie Ebejer, the ASA president, is hopeful that the Winter League will be the prelude for another exciting season of waterpolo.

"The Winter League has established itself as a popular competition among local teams as it gives them an excellent opportunity to gear up for the National Championships which will start in the third week of May," Ebejer said.

"2009 is a very important year for the ASA. Apart from the usual domestic commitments, we will also be hosting two international competitions. BOV, the ASA's main sponsors, have renewed their support for another year and their financial assistance is crucial for us to host these LEN qualifying events."

The European U-20 qualifying tournament will run from April 30 to May 3. Malta have been drawn in a very tough Group B along with the Netherlands, Russia, Moldova and Israel. The top two teams will qualify for the championships finals, to be held in Greece in September.

A week after the U-20 competition, the ASA will oversee the organisation of a qualifying tournament for the European 'B' Championships. The Malta national team, under the guidance of Sergio Afric, have been paired with Georgia, Finland and Ireland.

The top two teams to emerge from the May 8-10 competition at Tal-Qroqq will advance to the final phase which will be staged in Lugano, Switzerland in September.

Also present for yesterday's news conference was Edward Muscat Azzopardi, head of marketing at BOV. He said the bank was pleased to be associated with the ASA.

"Last year's competitions turned out to be very exciting and we are confident that 2009 will be no different," Muscat Azzopardi said. "We hope that our partnership with the ASA will continue for many years to come."

First programme

May 22 - 10 a.m. Sliema vs Neptunes; 11.15 a.m. Sirens vs Marsascala; 12.30 p.m. San Ġiljan vs Exiles.