Sliema start the defence of the national championship title they won in such a dramatic fashion last summer, today when the preliminary round of the summer league gets underway at the Tal-Qroqq pool.

The ASA is envisaging a brighter future for the game of waterpolo not only due to the new sponsorship of 7-Up, but also in the light of the exceptional results obtained by Dirk Dowling's national squad in the Commonwealth Championships in Manchester and the Euro B qualifiers in Bulgaria earlier this year.

Notwithstanding the fact that Malta's international commitments came so early in the season, the team fared well in the Commonwealth competition in March where they missed out on a bronze medal to England in extra-time and last month qualified for the final stages of the Euro B Championship.

During the launching of the 2002 summer competition last month, ASA president Robbie Ebejer also touched on the foreign player issue. He said his association was doing its utmost to try and re-introduce overseas players in the near future.

The perfect build-up to the summer competition, notwithstanding the withdrawal of the Birzebbuga team, was only completed early in May when Sliema and Neptunes faced each other in a decider to determine the Winter League winners.

The Reds, under the guidance of Tony Camilleri and with some notable new faces, went on to win that tight match as five goals from John Soler were not enough to avoid a 6-5 upset for Sliema.

Sliema, who won the 2001 summer championship thanks to a John Paris golden goal in another decider against Sirens, and Neptunes are expected to figure among the main challengers for the title even though Bruno Cofino's strong outfit from St Paul's Bay and the up-and-coming Marsascala lads, guided by Pierre Borg, could have other ideas.

Sliema start their title defence with a match against Exiles today while Sirens take on Gozitans Otters in the opening day's two-match programme.

Neptunes should not be troubled by the modest challenge of Marsaxlokk tomorrow while Marsascala face San Giljan. The most balanced match should be that between minnows Valletta and Ta' Xbiex.

The preliminary round will come to an end on August 11. The national team will then travel to Stockholm for the Euro B Championship between August 16 and 24. The summer league will then resume on August 31.

Summer League - prelimary round

Note: The Division One and Two Summer Championships get underway on Saturday, August 31.