Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/592425
22 maltatoday, Wednesday, 28 OctOber 2015 Sport Canoe Polo basketball MSV Life supports Malta Basketball Association MSV Life, Malta's leading life insurer, signed an agreement with the Malta Basketball As- sociation (MBA). MSV Life will be support- ing the organisation to ensure the popular sport continues to receive the backing it needs to maintain the standards achieved so far and even go up to the next level. Under this agreement, the As- sociation agreed that the Wom- en First Division League shall also be called the "MSV Life Women First Division Basket- ball League." The agreement was signed by MSV Life Chief Executive Of- ficer David G. Curmi and Chief Officer HR and Corporate Serv- ices Norman Mifsud, together with President Paul Sultana and Secretary General Joseph Mus- cat for the Malta Basketball As- sociation. Mr Sultana and Mr Muscat thanked MSV Life for its sup- port. MSV Life's Mr Curmi said as a life insurer, sport is one of the company's main pillars for its Corporate Social Respon- sibility as it helps athletes and members of the community keep an active lifestyle and a tangible and healthy team spir- it. MSV Life p.l.c. (C-15722) is au- thorised by the Malta Financial Services Authority to carry on Long Term Business under the Insurance Business Act, 1998. Canoe Polo tournament held in Cospicua THE first ever edition of the Mal- ta Open Canoe Polo Tournament took place on Saturday, 24 Octo- ber, at Dock 1, Cospicua. Four teams including players from three countries battled in the calm harbour waters, during the Malta Canoe Sports Festival. Maltese participants had been preparing very hard for this com- petition, putting in months of training which increased in in- tensity in the final weeks. The Maltese Club fielded two teams for this tournament and the Maltese players were joined by athletes from Sicily and Ger- many. The assorted teams played 20 games in a festive atmosphere at the Cospicua waterfront with Maltese 19-year-old player Ryan Rizzo scoring a last gasp goal to gift his side victory in an enter- taining final. The first match was kicked off by parliamentary secretary for sport Chris Agius. Canoe Polo is a game of two halves of 10 minutes where two teams of 5 players battle it out with a water polo ball. The aim is to score into a goal, which is suspended above the water at each end of a rectangular 'playing pitch'. These pitches can be on open water or they can even be on a swimming pool. The sport has World Champi- onships every two years and Eu- ropean, Asian, African, North American and South American Championships held every year in between World Championship years. Internationally the sport is organised by the Canoe Polo com- mittee of the International Canoe Federation, as one of the disci- plines of the sport of canoeing. In Malta the game goes back to the 2002 when a handful of kayak enthusiasts decided to include a waterpolo ball during their kay- aking sessions. At first this was a leisure activity between friends, who organized their games at the Valletta Waterpolo Pitch, Chad- wick Lakes or simply at sea. The majority of the first six, today still form part of the Malta Ca- noe Polo Club, providing advice to beginners and also proving to be worthy experienced opponents on the water. Affiliated with the Malta Canoe Federation, the island's one and only canoe polo club is still in its infant years. Set up prior to an International Tournament held in The Netherlands last May, the club has grown to 25 registered members. These, together with new enthusiast meet for training sessions at the Tal-Qroqq Na- tional Pool, every Monday and Wednesday. Ryan Rizzo the 19-year-old player who scored the winning goal in the final being presented with the trophy