Asciak settles for bronze after upset in semi-final

Matthew Asciak failed in his bid to become the first Maltese tennis player to reach the men’s singles final at the GSSE as yesterday he was defeated by Laurent Recouderc, of Andorra, 7-6 6-1 in the semi-final at the Tennisholl Kopavogs indoor court.

Asciak played his best tennis in the opening set but failed to make the most of the chances that came his way.

He lost most of his composure in the second set and finally had to settle for a bronze medal as a losing semi-finalist.

The match seemed to be taking the right path for the Malta champion after Asciak broke his opponent in the fourth game and then served for the match leading 5-3.

But Recouderc clawed his way back into contention when breaking back in the ninth game and eventually a tie-break was required to separate both players after an exciting first set.

Asciak earned himself a break point at 6-5 up but again failed to obtain the next point he required and former world no.124 Recouderc pounced to seal a morale-boosting first set.

The upset in the tie-break rattled Asciak and Recouderc took total control.

The Andorra player won six of the next seven games to seal victory in straight sets and keep alive his nation’s hopes of a first gold medal in tennis singles after 16 years.

Dubious line call

“Matthew gave his all today, particularly in the first set but luck deserted him when he needed it most,” Steve Caruana, representing the Malta Tennis Federation, told Times of Malta.

“He was leading the first set comfortably but a dubious line call when on set point cost him dearly. Had he won that first set the match could have taken a different twist.”

Asciak’s third placing meant a third medal won by Maltese tennis players in Iceland.

Earlier this week, Elaine Genovese took bronze in the singles before teaming up with Katrina Sammut to reach the final of the women’s doubles where they lost to Claudine Schaul and Eleonora Molinaro, of Luxembourg.

“We’ll be returning home satisfied with how things went for us this week in Iceland,” Caruana added.

“We came to the Small Nations Games aiming to win at least one medal here but we’ll be flying back to Malta with three.

“Katrina and Elaine did well to reach the final and play for the gold medal in the doubles... that would have been an extraordinary feat.

“Katrina, in particular, has been a great revelation for us.

“Despite being only 16 she showed great maturity and willingness to succeed. She is a great prospect for the future in our game.”

Maltese in action today

Athletics
K. Moore (200m final), C. Wingfield (200m final), D. Micallef, R. Sare (triple jump), G. Camilleri (5,000m), M. Crocker, K. Moore, N. Brimmer, R. Dimech (men’s 4x400m), Y. Pace, J. Richard, C. Attard, F. Borg (women’s 4x400m).

Beach Volley
Malta vs Luxembourg.

Golf
A. Borg, D. Holland, J.J. Ver Elst (individual and team event).

Judo
M. Bezzina, V. Frazier, J. Camilleri (women’s team).
I. Bezzina, M. Korchilava, G. Atanasov, J. Saywell (men’s team).

Table Tennis
V. Lucenkova (women’s singles).