Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/430850
21 Sport maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 10 DECEMBER 2014 SAILING TENNIS Record number of participants expected for Euromed Malta Championship WTA agrees to $525m 'game-changing' deal WILFRED SULTANA THE Optimist Sailing Dinghy is acknowledged as a one design sin- gle handed sailing craft where only sailors under the age of 16 years are eligible to contest in this class rac- ing. This is the largest junior class in the World and a recognised ISAF International Class. Since the year 2000 the Malta Young Sailors Club has made it an annual December appoint- ment to host the Optimists Class EUROMED Malta Championship which from a modest start fourteen years ago has become a prime inter- national sailing attraction with last year's edition attracting 138 sailors from 8 countries. This 4-day event, which is contested by both male and female young sailors, is organ- ised with the cooperation of the Kunsill Malti għall-iSport and the Mellieħa Local Council and is held under the patronage of the Malta Sailing Federation. This year the 15th Edition of the Optimists Class EUROMED Malta Championship will be held between the 19th and the 22nd December with Melieha Bay once again being the racing arena. The Malta Championship is also an attraction to Laser dinghy sail- ors where participation is not con- strained by an age limit. The par- ticipants will be split up into five categories namely the Optimist Ca- det Class, the Optimist Open Class, the Optimist Novice Class and two Laser Dinghy Classes - Laser Radial Class and Laser 4.7 Class. With less than two weeks to go for the event the number of participants stand at 120 sailors from 9 countries - Cyprus, Ire- land, Russia, Spain, Italy, United Kingdom, Greece, Romania and Malta. Ireland, Spain and Greece are newcomers to the Malta event. Undoubtedly this is an excellent turnout which can increase over the last few days prior to the start even surpassing last year's record entry. The biggest three foreign contingents hail from Sicily with 29 sailors, Ireland with 16 sailors, and Russia with 14 sailors. A distinguished participant this year will be Ebru Bolat from Ro- mania who last July in Dublin was declared the overall Optimist Eu- ropean Girl Champion 2014. Bolat will be on her third Euromed par- ticipation which she is yet to win. Fourteen editions which find Maltese sailors leading with 5 vic- tories, the Russians have three vic- tories and the Swedish are with two wins. Great Britain, Ireland, Italy and Turkey are all represented with one victory each. Malta's Thomas Zammit Tabona is the only winner who has won the Euromed on two occasions - 2006 and 2007 - while Russian Nikita Ushkov in 2009 at the age of 11 became the youngest ever winner of the Championship. The Euromed is not only a big challenge to Maltese young sailors but a great opportunity to par- ticipate in an international event against other foreign sailors on home waters thus without the need to travel overseas. For the foreign sailors, who are normally accompanied by other members of their family, the Malta Championship is an occasion to enjoy a competitive event in mild- er weather conditions from those prevailing in their countries. Fur- thermore the foreign groups always go on excursions to Malta's places of historical and cultural interest. Certainly, Euromed is an estab- lished winter event and a typical lo- cal attraction under the sport tour- ism spectrum. As usual the Malta Euromed Championship will be held under the jurisdiction of a panel of Inter- national Jury Members. Luigi Ber- tini of the Federazione Italiana Vela will be Jury Chairman who will be assisted by Henry Sleutel (Nether- lands), Bojan Gale (Slovenia), Carol Heines (Great Britain), Jovin Rausi and Godwin Zammit (Malta). Pe- ter Dimech is the Championship's Principle Race Officer. The official hotel of Euromed 2014 is the Seabank Resort+Spa in Mellieha while Maxima Lido on the sandy beach of Mellieha Bay will house the race office and the launching area of the Champion- ship. The EuroMed Malta Championship will once again bring together multinational young sailors who race for honour and fun The Women's Tennis Association (WTA) has agreed a 10-year $525 million (£335 million) rights deal with digital media company Perform that will see 2,000 main draw singles matches broadcast each year, the governing body said on Tuesday. THE deal, described as "game-changing" by WTA chairman and CEO Stacey Allaster, is the largest live media rights and production ven- ture in the history of women's sports, according to the WTA. "This is a game changing and historic mo- ment for our fans and for women's sport," said Allaster in a statement. "Our new broadcast strategy to produce all 2000 main draw singles matches in partnership with (broadcast distri- bution partner) Perform will deliver exponen- tial global exposure for our players, tourna- ments and partners." WTA Media, together with tournaments, will produce all main draw singles matches and the semi-finals and finals of all doubles matches from 2017 to 2026. Plans also include additional magazine shows and significant off-court content to support the WTA's mobile, digital and social media strat- egy. Serena Williams