The week-long training camp by a Polish team at the Marsa Sports Club came to an end last weekend with an invitational tournament and the participation of 15 local players against their counterparts from eastern Europe.
The tournament proved to be a success with over 100 matches played involving beginners, advanced and national team players.
A unique format was adopted for the competition, giving all local players the opportunity to test their skills against overseas opponents in the opening two rounds.
Too many close matches were played to report them all but special mention should go to Sue Aquilina. She produced a gallant fight against the no.2 from Poland, Anna Sikorska. The Maltese player lost out on the final point of the match 10-9 in the deciding fifth set.
Jonathan Sammut played extremely well, finishing second in the 'B' event, while Adrian Camilleri and Colette Sultana were classified fifth in the 'A' and 'B' events respectively.
In the final match of the day, Nigel Dunkerley took on the visiting team's no.1 player Tomasz Abramowski. Dunkerley turned in a gutsy performance before going down 3-1.
Squash Section chairman Charles Cuschieri addressed those present at the end of the competition and thanked everyone involved for their contribution.
"Fair Play, exciting games and a really good atmosphere were displayed throughout the week," he said.
Cuschieri went on to thank the Marsa Sports Club and his committee for their contribution in staging the international competition and said that everyone involved is "looking forward to greeting the players again next year".
Squash Academy coach and camp organiser Paul Lake said he was pleased with the response from the number of players wanting to take part.
"Considering that no prizes were on offer to the winner of the tournament, the interest in taking part and playing good competitive matches was excellent," Lake said.
The only prize awarded was to the best player of the tournament, selected by the participants. The award went to Abramowski whose all-round performance, pleasant nature and commitment, on and off the court, made him the players' natural choice.
As his 'player of the tournament', Abramowski picked Dunkerley, a good indication of what the Polish champion thought about his final opponent.