Three Maltese clubs will be will be in action in the LEN Challenger Cup qualifiers in the next fortnight with a clear two-fold objective – providing their Maltese players with important game experience on the continent and qualification into the next phase of the competition.
Men’s champions Sliema ASC will be in action this weekend in their qualifying group at the National Pool while their female counterparts and Sirens will be involved in the women’s qualifiers the following week.
Sliema’s men’s team will be in action at the National Pool in one of two qualifying groups to be staged at Tal-Qroqq.
The Malta champions wil be in action in Group C and will be up against Carouge Natation, of Switzerland, Clube Fluvial, of Portugal, and Israel’s Maccabi Tel Aviv.
Welsh Wanderers, of Wales, Finnish side Cetus Espoo, GZC Donk, of the Netherlands, and Portugal’s Vitoria will be in action in Group A at Tal-Qroqq, with the top two sides from each group progressing to the next round.
“It’s a huge of honour for us to have one of our clubs competing in the men’s Challenger Cup when in the past we always took part with our national team under the name of Valletta,” ASA president Karl Izzo said.
“I am pleased that I have convinced Sliema ASC to field their men’s team in the competition. On the other hand having two women’s clubs also competing next week is a major boost for the female movement.
“It’s important to provide to our Maltese players the opportunity to play more game against top-level opponents as it will help them to become better players and in the long run it will not only benefit their clubs but will turn our national teams into a more competitive force.”
Sliema ASC men’s coach Giannis Katrouzanakis said that he is delighted that his club decided to play a European competition and made it clear that they have their eyes firmly set on securing one of two qualifying spots available.
“It’s a huge honour for our club to be playing in a European competition,” Katrouzanakis said.
“I have been in Malta for a year now and our main goal has been to not only be competitive in the local scene but also to provide the Maltese players the opportunity to develop their game by playing in European club competitions.
“Playing in Europe gives us the opportunity to play more high-level matches and face teams with different style of play. Our preparation started in September and we only lost one player from the summer championship, Jayden Cutajar, who will continue to play for Partizan Belgrade in Serbia.
“Our goal is quite clear – to try and progress to the next round so that we have more top-level matches to play. I hope that there will be more Maltese clubs who will play in European matches as it will help local talent to reach a higher level of performance and in the end be of great benefit for the national team.”
In the women’s tournament, Sirens and Sliema head into the competition with contrasting objectives.
Sirens, under the charge of Aurelien Cousin, will be in action at the Cottonera Sports Complex where they will be playing against VK Jardan Split, of Croatia, SV Blau Weib Bochum, of Germany and Israel’s Hapoel Emek.
Sirens, in their second participation in the European Aquatics competition, are hopeful of going one step better than last year when they failed to progress from the group stages.
“This is the second time that we are competing in the Challenger Cup,” Sirens coach Aurelien Cousin said.
“Following last season’s experience, we felt that with a bit more work we could not only participate but also qualify to the next round of the tournament. We are a very ambitious club and although we have been drawn in a tough group I don’t think that to qualify is an impossible task and we will surely give it a strong shot.
“This tournament is a great opportunity to give our players the opportunity to face strong European opposition. Unfortunately, the league in Malta is only formed by three teams so we are always looking to provide more games to our players and hopefully this tournament will help them attract interest from abroad.
“Preparation has been very good and I am grateful to Sliema ASC who agreed to organise a number of friendlies between our clubs and hopefully these matches will help in both teams’ preparations for this competition.”
On his part, Sliema coach Kayne Lanzon said that his team were drawn in a very tough group and their main goal was to give useful playing experience for their players.
Sliema will be in action in Novi Sad, in Serbia, and will be up against hosts VK Vojvodina, Izmir, of Israel and Britain’s City of Manchester.
“It’s a tough group as we will be facing teams like Vojvodina and Izmir who are of a very good level,” Lanzon said.
“Expectations are quite straightforward, we are going there to give our players the opportunity to develop and grow as a team. We want to give our best and see where this will take us. I am very excited to see how we will measure up with teams of this strength.”
Enemed Cup
ASA president Karl Izzo gave details of the upcoming Enemed Cup, starting next month.
“The Enemed Cup will start the new season, and we are very exciting for this year’s edition that will be played between November 16 and February 1,” Izzo said.
“This year, the tournament will see some teams fielding foreign players and that will only make this competition more hard-fought between all participating teams. Added to that this is a tournament that sees club make use of many young players who will have a first taste of senior competition.
“I would like to thank Enemed Ltd for their constant support as it is crucial to help us develop the game.”
On his part, Kevin Chircop, Executive Chairman at Enemed, said that his company is pleased to continue to support waterpolo in Malta as well as the Aquatic Sport Association of Malta.
“As a company, we are always ready to support those associations who are constantly developing and evolving and over the years, the ASA has managed to reach high objectives despite its limited resources,” Chircop said.
“I hope that our financial support will play an important role so that waterpolo in Malta can continue to reach higher objectives.”
WEEKEND PROGRAMME
NATIONAL POOL
FRIDAY
GROUP A
Cetus Espoo vs Welsh W. 16.00
GZC Donk vs Vitoria 17.15
GROUP C
Carouge vs Clube Fluvial 18.30
Sliema vs ASA Tel Aviv 19.45
SATURDAY
GROUP A
Vitoria vs Cetus Espoo 16.00
Welsh W. vs GZK Donk 17.15
GROUP C
ASA Tel Aviv vs Carouge 18.30
Sliema vs Clube Fluvial 19.45
SUNDAY
GROUP A
Cetus Espoo vs GZK Donk 08.30
Vitoria vs Welsh 09.45
GROUP C
Clube Fluvial vs Tel Aviv 11.00
Sliema vs Carouge 12.15
