Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/630594
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 24 JANUARY 2016 53 Sports BADMINTON TENNIS IN March 2016, the Malta School Sport Federation and Badminton Malta will play host to the Inter- national School Sport Federation World Badminton Championships having successfully bid to bring this event to Malta. The Champion- ships, aimed towards youths aged between 14 and 17 years of age will see both school and national teams battle it out on local courts. From the 28th March until the 2nd April, Malta will be hosting around 275 athletes represent- ing nineteen countries including Belgium, Brazil, Bulgaria, China, Chinese Taipei, Croatia, India, Pa- kistan, England, France, Germany, Greece, Islamic Republic of Iran, Luxembourg, Scotland, Slovakia, Spain, Turkey and of course host nation Malta. Malta will be field- ing two teams – boys and girls who are being coached by coaches Ed- mond Abela and Patrick Cassar, assisted by George Camilleri and Aldo Polidano respectively, who have a wealth of experience in the field, both as athletes and coaches. "At this time and day sports is very crucial for the holistic devel- opment of the child in education. It gives them both the physical skills they need in their early edu- cational years and their mental skills as they develop through their whole educational system. In a so- ciety where students are becoming more sedentary it is crucial that sports becomes an integral part of the whole educational system" said David Azzopardi, Chairman of the Malta Schools Sport Federa- tion. "Through the International championships that International Schools Federation offers each year, Federations in those coun- tries are given the opportunity to hold a high level sporting event with full collaboration with the schools' sports organizing com- mittees", concluded Azzopardi. The Schools Teams fixtures are scheduled to take place at Tal- Qroqq Sports Complex, whilst the selected teams' fixtures will take place at the Ta'Qali Basketball Pa- vilion. Since all competitions will be held during school holidays the general public are encouraged to attend and show support to the athletes. "The Championships are very important for Badminton Malta as not only do they give its young ath- letes the opportunity to compete at international level but we are hopeful that this event encourages other athletes to start practicing this sport" commented Chris Spi- teri, Federation President. "We are grateful towards the Malta Schools Sport Federation and Sportmalta for the support and drive they are giving this event". During the official Group Draws which took place earlier on this week, it was announced that Malta Girls Schools Teams were placed in Group B and will be facing France, Bulgaria and Greece, whilst the Boys Schools teams will be part of Group D facing teams from Chi- nese Taipei, Portugal and Scot- land. "We are all very excited the draws are out, even though it's a chal- lenging tournament for Malta, the smallest country to have ever or- ganised International School Sport Federation World Badminton Championships, with the largest number of participating teams, but we are confident that these games will be a success" commented Joanne Cassar, Secretary General of Badminton Malta. "The Maltese squad players and coaches are mo- tivated more than ever to obtain positive results on home territory" More information on the 2016 International School Sport Fed- eration World Badminton Cham- pionships and fixtures will be available on http://badminton- malta.org. The public is invited to like the Federation's Facebook Page https://www.facebook.com/ BadmintonMalta/?fref=ts for the latest update on the event. Malta to host 2016 International School Sport Federation World Badminton Championships Andy Murray's father-in-law Nigel Sears collapses during Ana Ivanovic match ANDY Murray was far from his flu- ent best on Margaret Court Arena but the world number two was clinical in the crucial moments as he sealed a 6-2 3-6 6-2 6-2 victory. The British number one played on apparently unaware that his father- in-law Nigel Sears had been taken to hospital after collapsing on Rod Laver Arena. Murray will now face either Ber- nard Tomic or John Millman, both from Australia, in the last 16. Sears, the coach of Ana Ivanovic, had been watching the Serb's third- round match against Madison Keys when he suddenly fell ill. When Murray completed victory, Sears was undergoing tests with a cardiologist but Jamie Murray told Press Association Sport the 58-year-old was "conscious, talking and sitting up". At the end of the contest, Murray departed the arena immediately, rather than doing a customary on-court interview. It was also an- nounced he would not be attending a post-match press conference. The Briton had struggled for his usual rhythm during the match as he consistently mistimed his fore- hand and was regularly forced to rely on his second serve. Sousa, however, was unable to capitalise as he carved out a number of early opportunities but each time watched Murray momentarily find his best to survive. A scintillating cross-court fore- hand from the Scot saved a break point in the third game and then two irretrievable serves diverted another in the fifth as Sousa failed to make his strong start count. It proved costly as Murray found his groove at 3-2, brilliantly hunt- ing down and then flicking away a Sousa drop-shot to break the Por- tuguese and move two games clear. Frustrated, Sousa wavered from his baseline game, which suited Murray, who picked him off with ease and broke again to clinch the opening set. The score, however, flattered the British number one and it was lit- tle surprise that Sousa, compos- ing himself again, nicked the first break in the second when a Murray backhand flew long. Sousa had a foothold and as Mur- ray huffed and puffed, his opponent broke again to seal the set and level up. When Murray appears most exas- perated he often produces his most inspired tennis and that was the case in the third set, as he used his superior touch, craft and speed to outmanoeuvre Sousa. Two breaks of serve put the Brit- on back in front and he carried his momentum into the fourth with another break at 2-2. Sousa was suddenly on the back foot and he never looked like recov- ering as Murray raced away, break- ing again at 5-2 before sealing vic- tory in two hours and 38 minutes. "I thought I struggled. At the be- ginning I think he was extremely aggressive, very intense," Murray said in a statement provided to journalists. "He was getting into positions to dictate a lot of points with his fore- hand. Once I started to hit the ball a little bit cleaner towards the end of the match I was able to get him in his backhand corner and dictate more of the points." Murray added: "I just tried to keep fighting. At the end I was actually hitting the ball well and felt bet- ter at the end. It was good to get through that one." Andy Murray celebrates his victory