Mark Gauci won the 2nd National Ranking Tournament in Zabbar where in the final he defeated World Number 1, Massimo Cremona, in a thrilling encounter which ended 3-2 in Gauci’s favour. Although Gauci lost a group match against Hamrun’s Kenneth Attard putting him in second place in his group, he managed to overcome this disadvantage and take home the silverware.
Gauci had a tough way to the final where he encountered several tough challenges. His Barrage match against Charles Aquilina seemed to be the determining factor of his day as this tough match gave him the boost of confidence he needed to defeat Derek Conti (5-1) and Samuel Bartolo (1-0) before joining Cremona in the final.
There were also a couple of surprises on the day, namely the early elimination of Hansel Mallia to make way for the qualification of Josef Camilleri, as well as the early elimination of Stefan Pace. A notable achievement seemed to be Joseph Zammit Pavia’s Barrage qualifications.
The U19 was won by Malta’s top Junior, Mauro Camilleri who defeated Andrew Abela 4-2 in the Final, while the Veterans was won by Patrick Pace who ousted Joseph Zammit Pavia in the final.
The Tournament was a great improvement on the previous one held both in the state of equipment and also in attendance.
