Asciak wins gold in ITF/Tennis Europe tournament
Silver for Vella, Genovese
Matthew Asciak will be returning home with a gold medal hanging around his neck this afternoon after winning an U-14 ITF/Tennis Europe tournament for European Small States which was played in Luxembourg during the week.
Apart from Malta, the other players hailed from Andorra, Cyprus, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Mon-aco, San Marino and Iceland.
Asciak, 12, had already made it to the final of a similar international U-14 tournament the week before but on that occasion he had to settle for a silver medal.
Yesterday, he beat Cypriot no.1 Georgis Koshis 6-0 7-5 to make up for that upset. The latter had beaten Asciak 7-6 6-2 in the previous final.
Two other Maltese hopefuls, Clive Vella and Elaine Genovese, also did well in the two international events, promoted and launched through the initiative of the Malta Tennis Federation which is also proposing a similar tournament for U-12s.
Yesterday, Vella teamed up with Asciak and collected another silver medal in the doubles' event after losing a tight final 6-3 0-6 5-7 to Cypriot duo Dean Georgiou and Koshis.
It was the second silver medal in the doubles for the Vella-Asciak tandem after they had lost the final of the first tournament.
Vella yesterday completed his singles commitments with a 6-1 6-3 win over Luxembourg's Christophe Nickels to claim fifth place.
Genovese also reached the final of the girls' doubles yesterday.
She partnered San Marino's Martina Agaric but forfeited the final to finish second in the rankings.
In the Consolation Event, Genovese finished on a brighter note after beating Eleonora Xenoprontos, of Cyprus, 6-2 6-3.
In the overall reckoning for both tournaments, Asciak placed first, Vella sixth and Genovese 11th.