Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/527016
54 maltatoday, SUNDAY, 14 JUNE 2015 Sport RUGBY TENNIS FOOTBALL European Nations Cup participation for Malta Rugby Football Union Women's Team THE Malta Rugby Football Un- ion's women 7s national team will be participating in the forthcom- ing European Nations Cup Divi- sion B, between the 20th and 21st June in Zagreb, Croatia. This tournament forms part of the Olympic qualification proc- ess since rugby 7s has been incor- porated as an Olympic sport and will debut in the 2016 Games in Rio. The Maltese ladies will be tak- ing part in Division B, where twelve teams will compete. These teams were drawn into three pools and Malta will be playing against hosts Croatia, Luxem- bourg and Austria. A team of twelve players will be travelling to Croatia, and the Maltese team will see the return of experienced players with the likes of the captain, Marion Az- zopardi and sisters Beverie and Tessabelle Sultana. Five new play- ers will make their international debut this year. National team training, under the guidance of Carmelo Lon- go and the MRFU's Director of Rugby, Damian Neill, kept going throughout the season, however intensity ramped up once the season was over to developer a stronger team who could provide a good challenge in Croatia. The Maltese ladies hope to im- prove on last year's fifth position. Last year's winners, Hungary went on to compete in Division A this year. Commenting about the forth- coming European Cup MFRU President Brian Dalton, wished the team every success in Croatia and encouraged more women to take up this ever growing sport. Women's 7's National Squad heading to European Championships Nadal through to Stuttgart final Top seed Rafael Nadal overcame France's Gael Monfils in straight sets to reach the final of the grass-court Mercedes Cup in Stuttgart THE Spanish former world number one saw off the French- man 6-3 6-4 in just over 79 min- utes. Fourth-seeded Monfils fired 11 aces compared to none from Nadal but made five double faults and failed to convert four break points. "I'm playing with the right in- tensity and waiting for my mo- ment," said Nadal, who is hoping to win the trophy for a third time. "I'm very, very happy to be in a fi- nal again. "I think I'm playing well. It's important for me after losing at Roland Garros to keep going and have the right attitude, the right level of tennis in the next couple of weeks and that is what I am trying. "I'm practising every day with a very positive attitude, work- ing a lot of hours on court. I had a tough first three months and a half - very bad for me – but I felt that the last month and a half was better. "I'm enjoying again the tennis and every victory is important and being in the final is great news." Nadal will play Serbia's Viktor Troicki in the final after the eighth seed saw off injured sec- ond seed Marin Cilic 6-3 6-7 6-2. Cilic, who needed courtside treatment for an elbow problem, dug deep to level the match after struggling early on but Troicki was ultimately too strong. Spain's Rafael Nadal is into the Stuttgart final FAI shred 18,000 programmes after John Delaney FIFA comments The Football Association of Ireland ordered the shredding of 18,000 match programmes containing comments from chief executive John Delaney about the FIFA crisis FAI chiefs confirmed that the programme for Saturday's Euro 2016 clash with Scotland had been re-printed at a reported cost of 10,000 euros. A statement said: "John Dela- ney was entirely unaware of this change to the programme. He had already signed off on it and it was approved for printing. "The decision to delete his comments where they related to FIFA was an editorial one that was taken by the communica- tions department." The FAI found itself dragged into the furore surrounding FIFA last week after Delaney confirmed the association had been paid five million euros by the governing body in the wake of Ireland's controversial World Cup play-off defeat by France in 2009. The news came amid reports that a group of fans had clubbed together to hire a plane to trail a 'Delaney Out' banner over the Aviva Stadium during the game. John Delaney, was 'entirely unaware' of the decision to delete his FIFA- related comments from the matchday programme