The LEN delegates present in Malta last week for the 2013 European Junior Waterpolo Championships all had words of praise for the high level of organisation by the ASA of Malta when staging the 48-match event.
Gianni Lonzi, the 1960 Italian gold medallist, now chairman of the LEN Technical Committee, lauded the organisation of the championships, saying that the atmosphere at the National Pool, the public and the contesting teams contributed to the success of the tournament.
Once again the Maltese association, courtesy of its top officials and backroom personnel, did a great job in seeing to every minute detail of the event which attracted contingents from 15 European countries.
The delegates, and table officials, pool staff and emergency medical personnel were all involved in the smooth running of all the matches held over an eight-day period.
Logistics, including accommodation, trans-port and training programmes also came into the frame and one can say that everything went as planned.
This efficiency has certainly improved Malta’s chances of staging other high-profile inter-national aquatic events on the island in future, thus also contributing towards enhancing sports tourism.
Above all the ever-increasing popularity of waterpolo in our country stands to gain and such a scenario would certainly result in more progress by our representative teams.
In the words of ASA president Joe Caruana Curran, “the event was a feast of waterpolo at the highest level in the junior category”.
That Montenegro, led by coach Mirko Vicevic (an old acquaintance of Malta via Neptunes), emerged winners with a clean sheet out of the six matches they played was no coincidence as they displayed the best brand of waterpolo comple-mented by remarkable staying power.
Malta had its fair share of satisfaction, with coach Anthony Farrugia rallying his team in the last match to beat Belarus 14-12.
The Maltese were among the finalists by virtue of being the host nation. Their continental ranking precluded them from being competitive among the elite teams.
However, given their progression in terms of performances over the five matches played in seven days, their overall showing was commendable.