Colette Sultana will make her first showing in a professional tournament today when she plays her opening match at the 2012 Harrow Mediterranean Squash Open at the Malta Union Club in Sliema.

The Mediterranean Open, which is sanctioned by the Women’s Squash Association (WSA), will see the participation of several female players ranked as high as 40th in the world list and coming from different parts of the globe including Austria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, France, Scotland, Poland, Argentina, South Africa and the United States.

The 17-year-old Sultana, who won gold for Malta in last year’s Games of the Small States of Europe in Liechtenstein, was awarded a wild card for the main draw following her positive showings in international competitions.

She will start her adventure against French player Chloe Mesic, another promising youngster currently ranked 92nd in the WSA rankings. The match is scheduled to start at 2pm.

Czech player Lucie Fialova, ranked no.40 in the world list, is the tournament’s top seed. She is set to face a tough challenge from South Africa’s no.1 player Siyoli Waters.

The qualifying round of the Mediterranean Open got under way yesterday with eight players looking to secure one of the four remaining slots in the main draw. Here Malta was represented by Johanna Rizzo and Theresa Brousson.

A special guest during the Mediterranean Open will be track and field athlete Diane Borg, who represented the country at this year’s London Olympics, who has been named official ambassador for ‘Women in Sport’ for this year’s tournament.

Qualifying results: B. Etchechoury (ARG) bt C. Vrahimis (CYP) 11/4, 11/7, 11/5; M. Nasser (EGY) bt F. Gillen-Buchert (SCO) 11/5, 11/8, 11/6; N. Shahin (EGY) bt T. Brousson (MLT) 11/4, 11/3, 11/9; S. Nassar (EGY) bt J. Rizzo (MLT) 11/3, 11/5, 11/5.