The Dove Squash Open was played recently at the Marsa Sports Club.

Twenty-four players took part in a tournament where a new format was introduced by club coach Paul Lake.

The ‘A’ players faced those from the ‘C’ category in the first round and in the second round the winners were paired with players from the ‘B’ category.

All players from the ‘B’ and ‘C’ categories made the most of their experience of playing against some of the top players in the country and as Lake pointed out “only through matches against better players can the overall standard be improved”.

In fact, all participants played at least three matches, all ‘best-of-five’, with more than the entry field figuring in four matches.

Carl Camilleri and Ivan Balzan contested the ‘A’ final.

After battling their way through the preliminary rounds, the top two seeds faced up to each other in the first final of the new squash season.

Camilleri had struggled for form over recent months and this was evident throughout the first game, allowing himself to be disturbed by what he deemed was a refereeing error.

Balzan played aggressively from the start and had chances in most games to take a commanding lead only to make several unforced errors and allow Camilleri to regain composure.

From the beginning of the third game Camilleri focused more on ‘what to do’ rather than ‘how to do it’ and playing with less power and a greater degree of control, he took the first title of the season 3-1.

Meanwhile, losers from the first and second rounds had been grouped in one category with newcomer Paul Borg producing the overall best result of the tournament.

Borg only started his squash this year but improved at a quick rate, progressing through the ‘C’ and ‘B’ event and beating established players, the likes of Geoff Brousson, Sarah DeCesare and Sue Aquilina to finish in ninth place.