Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/296073
maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 16 APRIL 2014 Sport 22 MOTORSPORTS TENNIS Andrew Cassar places second in Sicily as Trials are held in Naxxar IT was a very busy Motorsport week- end for 'Assocjazzjoni Sport Muturi u Karozzi' motorsport members both locally and in Sicily. Autocross Finals were organised on Saturday after- noon at Ta Qali M.Sport complex. The Trials boys were battling all kinds of natural obstacles and difficult ter- rain at the hard rock cutting quarry in Naxxar while two Enduro riders were challenging Sicilian terrain in an FMI competition. Last Saturday afternoon of the 12th April ASMK held the pending Final A & B races which were postponed in December so the Demolition race in aid of MCCF starts on time. Class 'A' finalists were Vince Far- rugia on a Volkswagen Polo, Matthew Borg on a Vauxhall Nova, Malcom Borg on an Opel Corsa, Melo Zam- mit on a Ford Escort, Philip Joe Vella driving a Vauxhall Nova and Chris- tian Mark Galea on his Fiat Ritmo. Farrugia who made a good launch together with Zammit and Borg took the lead of the race to the chequered flag. Though overtaking was limited yet this was a fast interesting race to watch. Farrugia managed to go ahead of Zammit and Vella while earlier in the race, Borg and Galea retired due to mechanical failure of their racers. Class B finalists Andrew Pisani on a Vauxhall Nova, Kurt Sammut on a Ford Ka, Josef Grech on a Ford Fiesta, Josef Abela on a Vauxhall Nova, Len- nie Cortis on a Fiat Uno and Gordon Johnson on his Peugeot 205. As the race started Abela, Grech and John- son took the lead but after a lap John- son bet Abela and Grech. He held this position to the Finish Flag with a good lead and impressive handling of his Peugeot 205 mainly in the corners. Abela held his 2nd position ahead of Grech and Pisani won 4th in Class. Sammut and Cortis were non-starters in the race. On the following morning of Sunday 13th April, the Trials bikers held their competition in the hard rock cutting quarry at Targiet Ghomor l/o Naxxar. The competition was very technical in fact only Veteran Robert Caruana won one Clean Section in the whole event. Caruana strengthened his lead in class with 20 penalty points only. Nicholas Farrugia placed 2nd overall with 56 points on his Beta while Fre- drick Bonello is placed 3rd on his Gas Gas. Rowen Bonello dominated his class B for the 5th consecutive win on his Beta. Though the Sections were dif- ferent from the Class A riders yet Rowen managed to win his class with only one Clean section on the day and 20 penalty points. Joseph Scicluna on a Gas Gas placed 2nd in class with 29 penalty points while young Bernard Sammut on another Gas Gas is placed 3rd in Class on his 2nd race of Trials riding. ASMK thanks Ballut Ltd and Thomas Smith Insurance for sup- porting the event. Andrew Cassar and Mathieu Salo- mon made it to Sicily to compete in an Enduro Competition held in Cava d' Aliga' at Lungomare by the Italian Federation for Motorcycling (FMI) on Sunday 13th April. Earlier this year a group of 11 ASMK Enduro Bikers gained experience in Ragusa in prepa- ration to the 2nd FMI Enduro Inter- national event at Lungomare among about 200 bikers. All competitors have to ride four times the 70 Km long track encoun- tering extreme and demanding vary- ing terrain on route with steep breath- taking rocky cliff edge paths and the boulder rich river bed too. Following rain showers it was not easy riding over these obstacles in competition with some experienced Italian riders. The course included an 8 minute Fet- tuchato Cross test and a 5 minute En- duro test. Italy's famous Gaetano Scu- deri gave the spectators a great show in the special test sections. Andrew and Mathieu started their race at 9.20am with more than 7 hours riding which lasted till 3.30pm. There were small slots to fresh up with a drink, refuel the bikes and per- form minor repairs or adjustments as required and meet famous Enduro competitors on site. Andrew raced in the Veteran Class and managed to win 2nd place on the podium. Matthieu who was com- peting in a much populated class managed to win 4th in Class thus he missed the podium by a few points. Yet, his placing is very high up in the overall results scale. This reflects very promising on our competitors who are winning high placing in abroad competition when compared to the limitations of facilities in our country. Andrew and Mathieu will be compet- ing again in another FMI Champion- ship event next May. ASMK thank Virtu Ferries for sup- porting our competitors in Inter- national sport abroad. More ASMK Maltese riders will be competing in the FMI Motocross Championship in Sicily and in Drag Racing Cup in Santa Pod this coming Easter. More related information is avail- able in the ASMK Website www.asmk. org.mt. Next Enduro event is sched- uled for the 27th April. Non-members are welcome Manuel Camilleri San Michel ITF Under 18 Tournament at VLTC Italy's Sasha Merzetti, Britain's Jodie Anne Burrage claim singles titles ONE hundred and sixty players from more than 20 countries took part in the VLTC San Michel ITF Under 18 Tournament held on the club's courts at Corradino Heights, Paola last week. The competition, organ- ised by the Vittoriosa Lawn Ten- nis Club in collaboration with the Malta Tennis Federation was part of the International Tennis Federation Under 18 Circuit. As expected a good number of the players taking part left their mark with some high quality and entertaining tennis. The event also served as valuable experience to lo- cal junior players to compete against some of world's highly skilled and aspiring players. The boys' final between Italy's Merzetti and Marcus Walters of Great Britain saw some amazing shots. Sacha Merzetti dominated the match from the beginning tak- ing the first set 6-1, even though Walters demonstrated some amaz- ing tennis skill for a boy his age. Merzetti however was the more ex- perienced and powerful and won the match in straight sets, 6-1, 6-4. In the Boys Doubles event the Czech duo made up of Filip Duda and Motle Pavel beat their Italian counterparts Enrico Della Valle and Sacha Merzetti 6-4, 6-1. The Girls' Singles Final was an English affair which saw Jodie Anne Burrage and Ema Lazic in a typical girls' match. Long rallies character- istic of the high level of tennis for girls' in this category with either player hardly making an unforced error. The gruelling duel ended with Burrage winning in straight sets 6-4, 6.2. The same Jodie Anne Burrage, partnered by Italy's Federica Bilardo won the Girls Doubles beating Do- rien Cuypers of Belgium and Lexie Stevens of the Netherlands 6-3, 6-2. At the end of play, Twanny Camill- eri, Secretary of the VLTC present- ed the trophies to the winners and runners-up in the presence of Inter- national Tournament Director Mr Francis Sciberras. Jodie Anne Burrage of Great Britain winner of the Girls' Singles Sacha Merzetti of Italy winner of the Boys' event