Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/279808
maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 19 MARCH 2014 Sport 22 FORMULA 1 FOOTBALL BILLIARDS The Malta Eight Ball Federation organises Fourth Ranking Tournament The final games of the Fourth Ranking Tournament (BLACK BALL) were played on Friday 14th March. IN the Open category Maver- ick Zammit showed great tal- ent when he defeated Lydan Debono 10-3, in the under 23's category the same Lydan Debono defeated Gary Carr 10-5. Brian Cini defeated Owen Amato 8-7. In the ladies cat- egory Roberta Cutajar was at her best when she defeated Va- nessa Tedesco 6-0 in the final game. The over forty category Ivan Rizzo defeated Jesmond Schembri with the a score of 8-0. 100 competitors booked their place to form part of the Fifth Ranking Tournament. These ranking tournaments will determine who will repre- sent the Malta Eight Ball Fed- eration (BLACK BALL) dur- ing the European open which will be held in Bridlington in April. Ecclestone: Lack of noise needs to be investigated FORMULA 1 supremo Bernie Ec- clestone has said the sport needs to 'investigate' how to make the new generation of V6-turbo powered cars sound more like proper 'racing cars' and that they should 'maybe look to do something' after the opening few races. His comments were prompted after Australian Grand Prix Cor- poration (AGPC) Chairman Ron Walker said he was 'not too happy with the sound' during the race at Albert Park on Sunday and that it was 'clearly a breach of contract'. "I was not horrified by the noise. I was horrified by the lack of it," Ec- clestone told ESPNF1.com. "Ron is right with regards to their contract. And I was sorry to be proved right with what I've said all along; these cars don't sound like racing cars. "I've been speaking with Jean [Todt, FIA president] this after- noon and what I've said is that we need to see whether there is some way of making them sound like rac- ing cars. I don't know whether it's possible but we should investigate. I think let's get the first few races out of the way and then maybe look to do something. We can't wait all season. It could be too late by then." Eccelstone meanwhile added that Walker is not the only promoter concerned about the lack of noise compared to the previous V8 pow- erplants. "I've had one or two promoters get in touch with me today and they said how unhappy they are," added the 83-year-old in a separate interview with Reuters. "I spoke to [Ferrari president] Luca di Mon- tezemolo just now and Luca said he's never had as many emails on his desk complaining and saying this isn't Formula 1." Pressed on if the lack of noise is really a breach of contract, Eccle- stone added: "I don't know whether he [Walker] has got a point. Let's assume he hasn't got a point as far as the legal side is going. Then you have to look at it from a moral side. If you went into the supermarket today and bought some strawber- ry jam and you got peanut butter you'd probably be a bit pissed off. It's good quality peanut butter, but he's saying it isn't what he bought. "Whether the contract describes what he'd bought, the strawberry jam with so many strawberries, I don't know. I doubt it. I think he bought the FIA Formula One World Championship. Which is what he's got," Ecclestone concluded. David Moyes: My job is in no danger MANCHESTER United manager David Moyes was in defiant mood on the eve of tonights's Champi- ons League match against Olym- piakos, denying his job was under threat and saying he had the full backing of the club's board. He also said United were focused on planning for the long-term and not worrying about the period of transition they are in following the retirement of Alex Ferguson after 26 years in charge. The struggling Premier League champions must overturn a 2-0 deficit from the first leg of their round of 16 game in Greece to keep alive their last remaining hope of lifting a trophy this season. The demoralising 3-0 home Pre- mier League defeat by Liverpool on Sunday increased the pressure on Moyes who has endured a trou- bled start to his United reign after replacing Ferguson last year. "My future has not changed one bit," Moyes told a news conference yesterday. "I have got a great job and know exactly the direction I want to go in. "It has not been the season we wanted but I have ideas I want to put in place and the most impor- tant thing is Olympiakos. "If we can go through it would be a massive lift. We know we have got ourselves in a poor position being 2-0 down. "The biggest assurance is the club will let me get on with the job. I have a six-year contract. This club does not work on a short-term vision, it works on a long-term vision. "The support inside Old Trafford has been phenomenal. Sir Alex has been incredibly supportive, so has (director) David Gill and the board. "Sir Alex told me it was going to be a very difficult job but he is al- ways there to help." United go into the match follow- ing a poor performance against Liverpool and could easily have lost to their bitter rivals by a big- ger margin. They have to win by at least three goals against the Greek champions to go through without penalties, but have only twice overturned a two-goal deficit in European com- petition. The last time that happened was almost 30 years ago when they came from two goals down to beat a Barcelona side including Diego Maradona 3-0 in the European Cup Winners Cup quarter-finals. Moyes accepted the players need to give something back to the suf- fering fans. "The first thing I mentioned to the players is we need to start giv- ing something back. We need to work together to make it a night to be remembered. We will leave nothing behind." United defender Patrice Evra said that he would take inspiration from the recent World Cup playoffs when his France side overturned a first leg 2-0 loss to Ukraine to win the second leg 3-0 and qualif y for the finals in Brazil. "We let the storm pass," Evra said. "It was a difficult day after the game, we didn't expect to lose 2-0 in Ukraine but after two days everyone was focused. We stood together, we played for the people who love us, our families, the fans and we give everything. Like the manager says, it is really impor- tant we score early. "When you come to Old Trafford and you concede an early goal, it is difficult." Moyes attempted to put matters into perspective. "I think Manchester United is the biggest club in the world, it might not feel like that today, but this club has had great success in the past and will do again in the future," he said. "It will rise again."