Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/665749
21 THE nominees for the MFPA Awards 2016 have been released early this week. There are a total of 24 categories awarding mainly players in a plethora of catego- ries ranging from the MFPA Best Player, Best Young Player, Best 1st Division Player, Best Coach, Best Female Player, MFPA Best XI, Best Referee and more. Now in their third year, the awards ceremony will be held on the 2nd of May at the Xara Lodge, Rabat. The annual event which is becoming one of the highlights of Maltese football, cel- ebrates the very best for this cur- rent season. List of nominated players: MFPA Best Young Goalkeep- er – Andrea Cassar (Tarxien Rainbows F.C.), Christian Cassar (Balzan F.C.), Matthew Calleja Cre- mona (Floriana F.C.) MFPA Best Young Defender – Daniel Zerafa (Tarxien Rainbows F.C.), Emanuel Briffa (Floriana F.C.), Samir Arab (Balzan F.C.) MFPA Best Young Midfielder – Bjorn Kristensen (Hibernians F.C.), Llywelyn Cremona (Valletta F.C.), Ryan Ca- menzuli (Birkirkara F.C.) MFPA Best Young Forward – Ay- rton Azzopardi (Tarxien Rainbows F.C.), Luke Montebello (Tarxien Rainbows F.C.), Lydon Micallef (Balzan F.C.) MFPA Best XI Goalkeeper – Andrea Cassar (Tarxien Rain- bows F.C.), Henry Bonello (Valletta F.C.), Mario Mus- cat (Pembroke Athleta F.C.) MFPA Best XI Left-Back – Gary Muir (Sliema Wanderers F.C.), Jo- seph Zerafa (Birkirkara F.C.), Steve Bezzina (Balzan F.C.) MFPA Best XI Right-Back – Jo- nas Ekani (Mosta F.C.), Justin Grioli (Balzn F.C.), Ryan Camilleri (Valletta F.C.) MFPA Best XI Central Defend- ers (2) – Andrei Agius (Hiberni- ans F.C), Bruno Oliveria (Tarxien Rainbows F.C.), Elkin Serrano (Balzan F.C.), Enrico Pepe (Flori- ana F.C), Jonathan Caruana (Val- letta F.C.), Juan Cruz Gill (Valletta F.C.) MFPA Best Midfielders (3) – Bjorn Kristensen (Hibernians F.C.), Claudio Pani (Valletta F.C), Gilmar da Silva Ribeiro (Hiberni- ans F.C.), Jackson Lima (Hiberni- ans F.C.), Kyle O'Brien (Pembroke Athleta F.C.), Nicolas Chiesa (Flo- riana F.C), Paul Fenech (Balzan F.C), Roderick Briffa (Valletta F.C.), Ryan Camenzuli (Birkirkara F.C). MFPA Best Forwards (3) – Ab- delKarim Nafti (Valletta F.C.), Alex Paixao [Lekao] (Tarxien Rainbows F.C.), Alfred Effiong (Balzan F.C.), Federico Falcone (Valletta F.C.), Jhonnattann Ben- ites (Valletta F.C.), Jorge Pereira [Jorginho] (Hibernians F.C.), Jorge Santos Silva (Hibernians F.C.), Ly- don Micallef (Balzan F.C.), Matteo Piciollo (Floriana F.C.) Sport maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 13 APRIL 2016 FOOTBALL TENNIS The nominees for the MFPA Awards 2016 announced Murray struggles through ANDY Murray got his claycourt season under way with an uncon- vincing win over world number 95 Pierre-Hugues Herbert at the Monte Carlo Masters. The Scot, ranked second in the world, received a bye in the first round but had to dig deep to reach round three courtesy of a 6-2 4-6 6-3 victory. Murray's form has been a cause for concern of late following early-tournament defeats against Grigor Dimitrov and Federico Delbonis. He exchanged early breaks with French qualifier Herbert but went on to punish a nervous first serve with further breaks in the sixth and eight games to take the first set in 37 minutes. However, Murray lost his way in the second set, dropping his serve three times as Herbert found his range. The 2013 Wimbledon cham- pion continually found himself taken to deuce on his serve in the decider, as Herbert sensed an upset. He also vented his frustration at a disputed line call with the umpire during one break be- tween games. But breaks in the fourth and sixth games proved decisive and Murray eventually wrapped up the triumph in two hours and seven minutes. Murray enjoyed his best-ever season on clay last year, winning titles in Madrid and Munich be- fore losing to world number one Novak Djokovic in the semi-fi- nals at the French Open. Andy Murray needed three sets to beat qualifier Herbert Federer makes winning return ROGER Federer overcame a late wobble to beat Guillermo Garcia-Lopez on his return to action at the Monte-Carlo Mas- ters. The world number three was playing his first match since January's Australian Open and needed only an hour and a quar- ter to defeat his Spanish oppo- nent 6-3 6-4. Federer suffered a knee injury running a bath for his young daughters and underwent sur- gery on February 3. He had planned to return in Miami three weeks ago but was forced to pull out through illness. The Swiss looked sharp and would have won more hand- somely had Garcia-Lopez not fought back from 5-1 down in the second set. But it was nevertheless a high- ly satisfactory return for Feder- er at a tournament where he has reached the final four times but never lifted the trophy. Grigor Dimitrov was unable to find the form that saw him beat Andy Murray in Miami as he lost 6-4 6-3 to 15th seed Gilles Simon, while 11th seed David Goffin was an impressive 7-5 6-0 winner over Feliciano Lopez in round one. Philipp Kohlschreiber defeat- ed youngster Borna Coric 6-4 6-4 and there were also wins for Fernando Verdasco, Taro Dan- iel, Damir Dzumhur, Pablo Cue- vas and Joao Sousa. Roger Federer in action at the Monte Carlo Masters