Malta champions Sliema ASC Burger King have again been entrusted by LEN to organise a qualification round of one of its competitions for club sides, namely the European Champions Cup. This will be the sixth successive year in which Sliema have participated in similar competitions on the continent.

The Blues were drawn, as second seeds, in the same group with Rapid Intrarom Bucharest (Romania), Hammersmith Penguin (Great Britain) and Kuhat Helsinki (Finland). Rapid are the top seeds in the group.

Sliema's task will be a difficult one despite their ranking before the draw. Sergio Afric, the inspirational coach who led the team to a double last summer, has relinquished control of the team as he is now fully committed to Italian side Nuoto Catania.

Also out of the equation are two catalysts behind Sliema's success this year, namely top-scorer John Soler and Nicki Falzon.

Soler is expected to play in the Italian Serie A2 in January with Poseidon Catania. If he plays in this qualification round with Sliema, registration deadlines will impede the Malta international from moving to another club.

Falzon has returned to Australia after the end of the ASA competitions.

The first two classified teams in the group will proceed to one of the four preliminary round groups to be played between November 8 and 10 at venues still to be announced.

Last year, Sliema figured in the LEN Trophy competition, bowing out in the qualification round after losses to strong sides Partizan Belgrade, CSK Moscow and Ilyichevets Mariupol of Ukraine. The Blues did not finish empty-handed though after a hard-earned 10-9 win over Slavia Bratislava of Slovakia.

Two matches will be played daily at the National Pool, Tal-Qroqq. An entrance fee of Lm1 will be charged.

Programme...

Today - 3.15 p.m. Hammersmith Penguin vs Kuhat Helsinki; 4.30 p.m. Rapid Intrarom Bucharest vs Sliema Burger King.

Tomorrow - 3.15 p.m. Rapid Intrarom Bucharest vs Hammersmith Penguin; 4.30 p.m. Kuhat Helsinki vs Sliema Burger King.

Sunday - 10.30 a.m. Kuhat Helsinki vs Rapid Intrarom Bucharest; 11.45 a.m. Hammersmith Penguin vs Sliema Burger King.

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.