ore falling, some soaring

The second of three phases of the first of two leagues running in parallel in the months of Autumn has come to an end.

Top seed and five time National Champion David Delicata cruised to qualification to the quarter-finals where he will face Mario Saliba who scraped through the knock-out phase in a very tough group. A group which reigning National Champion Charles Micallef topped with not without some difficulty to qualify to play Frans Farrugia in the quarters. 

The outstanding player in this phase was Albert Zammit (shown left of picture), who came out on top despite being rated lower than any of his opponents in the group, including  Christine Strawbridge, the highest ranked player in the group, who failed to make it to the knockout stage.

In the playoffs, Alfred Xuereb continued to show an impressive form by placing first in his group, thereby earning himself the right to play against those who failed to make it to the knock-out phase. 

(written and published by Nicky Vella Laurenti)