The Malta Tennis Federation will again organise a Tennis Europe Championships for U/14s, starting tomorrow at the Tennis Club Kordin.

This is the second international tournament to be played in the refurbished club whose committee members have done their utmost to have their premises in fine shape for the competition which will be sponsored by San Michel.

As part of the build-up for the tournament, a number of local junior players recently travelled to Cyprus for the ITF/ETA U/14 Small States Championship. They also figured in two tournaments in Greece.

The youngsters, who returned home with some impressive results, have all been training hard under the charge of national coach Dusan Jancijic. Here, the federation is also helped by the Malta Olympic Committee who are assisting in the Junior Project for 2003.

Vital ranking points will be at stake during the TCK tournament, which comes to a close tomorrow week. Among those in the girls category are Steffi Sullivan, ranked 280, Leanne Genovese, 439, Christie Tonna and Leanne Schembri.

The boys' category includes Maltese players Matthew Asciak, 213, Clive Vella, 391, Matthew Hyzler, Simon Camilleri, Eugene Debono, Duane Pace and Mark Markham Cachia.

Benny Vidal, TCK chairman, will be tournament director. Oswald Tanti is the referee. Players participating hail from the Czech Republic, Holland, Germany, Russia, Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece, Italy, UK and Yugoslavia. Matches will be played in the mornings and afternoons.

The best ranked in the boys' category is Victor Schmid, of Germany. He is 45th in Europe. Sullivan is the highest ranked player in the girls' competition.

Meanwhile, MTF president Peter Zammit announced that soon after the TCK tournament a group of eight players will fly to the UK to attend a training camp at Bisham Abbey.

This venture is part of the European Exchange Programme with the collaboration of the UK Lawn Tennis Association.

Local Tennis Fixtures

San Michel Malta Junior Open at Marsa SC: Boys U-12 SF 9 a.m. A. Bonnici vs M. Ferrante. Boys U-14 SF 9 a.m. M.C. Markham vs C.F. Vella. Boys U-16 final 5 p.m. M. Asciak vs M. Pace. Boys U-18 SF 5 p.m. M. Meli vs M. Borg. Boys doubles U-14 final 9 a.m. S. Camilleri/M. Asciak vs M.V. Bonici/B. Callus. Girls U-12 final 9 a.m. E. Genovese vs L. Schembri. Boys and Girls plate final 9 a.m. S. Zammit vs E. Debono.

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.