The National Pool will be splashing with activity as the ball is set rolling today for the 2015 national championship, a trek which comes to an end on August 31.
The piece de resistance will be the Premier Division with the participation of six teams – Exiles, Neptunes, San Ġiljan, Sirens, Sliema and Valletta.
The competition’s format will be similar to that of last year, with teams split into the top and bottom pools after two rounds followed by two more rounds of matches that will determine the destination of the honours and final placings.
The First Division will be made up of four teams, Marsascala, Marsaxlokk, Otters and Ta’ Xbiex. They will compete over four rounds.
As was the norm in recent years, competition is expected to whip up interest among all the participants. The equilibrium in the top league, especially among Neptunes, San Ġiljan and Sliema, is a guarantee of exciting duels.
Last season’s backdrop is encouraging despite Neptunes’ ability to eventually cut to ribbons the Blues and the Saints to win the title by a massive 14-point margin.
The equilibrium in the top league, especially among Neptunes, San Ġiljan and Sliema, is a guarantee of exciting duels
The threat posed by Sirens, who last year managed to beat Sliema and San Ġiljan, cannot be dismissed since their squad includes some promising players.
Coach Bogdan Rath will be keen to continue the good work started last summer as Italian Christian Presciutti and Hungarian Csaba Kiss are again expected to lead a crop of younger players.
Valletta, under Anthony Farrugia, will have newcomers Karl Galea and Dean Camilleri, with Djordje Filipovic (Serbia) and Gergely Kiss (Hungary) as their foreigners.
Maurizio Mirarchi’s Exiles will be parading Frenchman Romain Blary and Serb Marko Cuk, besides new captures Sean Gravina and Andrea Bianchi.
Neptunes, however, will surely be the team to beat, having won an unprecedented five championships in a row and grabbed 11 titles out of the 15 available honours so far in this decade.
Among their core players captain Niki Lanzon and Steve Camilleri are in the forefront. Hungarian Peter Biros and newcomer Ivan Krapic, from Croatia, who has replaced the legendary Tamas Molnar, should give the Reds more propulsion.
New coach Zoran Mustur has the ability to motivate his team within organised gameplans based on a sturdy rearguard and fast counter-breaks. Despite this the Reds will not have an easy job trying to fend off the challenge of the other top teams.
Sliema, who have been through some lean seasons considering their own expectations, would dearly love to break Neptunes’ stranglehold on the summer honours.
The Blues’ recent acquisitions from San Ġiljan of quality player, Kai Dowling, and left-hander Michael Spiteri Staines, back from a loan spell with Valletta, are bound to boost their already long squad.
On top of that the signings of foreign stars, the great Frenchman Michael Bodegas and Serbia international Nikola Dedovic, to go with thoroughbreds John Soler and Mark Meli, should give Paul Privitera’s team further momentum, also given a push by their comeback success in the President’s Cup at the expense of Neptunes on Wednesday.
San Ġiljan are making no secret of their aspirations of finally breaking their duck, a drought which has lasted since 1995 when they won the double.
They have a strong outfit, with their scoring kingpins, Matthew and Dino Zammit, complementing new centre Peter Borg and the young promising tandem of Andrea Galea and Ben Plumpton.
Their capture from Spain of the renowned Guillermo Molina and the Serb Boris Vapenski will surely add strength to the side.
New coach, Marko Orlovic, will be eager to see how the team fares.
Opening programme
Today: Division One 18.15 Otters Nivea vs Marsascala Nutrition Empire. Premier League 19.30 Valletta McDonald’s vs Sirens Ritter Sport.
Tomorrow: Division One 16.30 Ta’ Xbiex Amigos vs Marsaxlokk Fischer. Premier League 17.45 Neptunes Grimaldi vs San Ġiljan Allcare; 19.00 Sliema Frank Salt Real Estate vs Exiles Ferretti.