Pawla Wolves Sports Club

The National Junior Championships were held on the 1st and 2nd November 2011 at the Cottonera Sports Complex under the auspices of Badminton Malta.  The results confirm the importance that the club is giving to the training of junior players.  It is almost incredible that out of 13 competitions 11 were won by the club with runners-up in the other 2 events. In some events both finalists came from our club.  This is an improvement from the results obtained last year even though they were fantastic enough. Here are the winners and runners-up:

Girls' U/13 Singles                     Cheryl Guilford                                            Runner-up

Boys' U/13 Singles                     Matthew Abela                                            Champion

Boys' U/13 Doubles                   Matthew Abela/Mark Abela                        Champions

Mixed U/13 Doubles                  Matthew Abela/Sacha Cini                         Champions

                                                      Mark Abela/Chery Guilford                          Runners-up

Girls' U/16 Singles                    Joanna Ciantar                                             Champion

Girls' U/16 Doubles                 Joanna Ciantar/Jacqueline Grech Licari  Champions

Boys' U/16 Singles                   Owen Grech                                                   Champion

Boys' U/16 Doubles                 Owen Grech/Matthew Abela                        Champions

Mixed U/16 Doubles                Owen Grech/Joanna Ciantar                       Champions

                                                    Matthew Abela/Jacqueline Grech Licari      Runners-up

Girls' U/19 Singles                  Dominique Francica                                       Champion

                                                    Catriona Francica                                           Runner-up

Girls' U/19 Doubles                Dominique Francica/Catriona Francica     Champions

Boys' U/19 Singles                 Owen Grech                                                     Runner-up

Mixed U/19 Doubles               Owen Grech/Catriona Francica                   Champions           

                                                    Matthew Abela/Dominique Francica          Runners-up

Although credit is due to all the above winners and runners-up it must be pointed out that both Matthew Abela and Owen Grech were winners in four competitions each.   As they did last year the Francica twins dominated the Under 19 competitions by winning all the events available. Joanna Ciantar won three competitions, i.e. all those in her age group. Well done indeed! Let us not however, rest on our laurels and start from now training for next year's championships.

Franz Vella

It is with great pleasure that we announce that for the 5th consecutive time Pawla Wolves S.C. Assikura are Champions of the Men's League.  On the 20th June the club had a decisive match against Birkirkara B.C. which BIrkirkara needed to win in order to force a decider against Pawla Wolve S.C.  Thus a draw was enough for us in order to clinch the Championship.  This was ably done after a very entertaining match at the Cottonera Sports Complex.  The match started by a splendid win by Anthony Xuereb against Steve Ferrante.  This was a three setter as Tony lost the first set 12-21.  On the change of ends Tony was a different player as he made the set his own by winning it 21-13.  It all depended on the third set.  Tony always had the upperhand in this and finally won it 21-18.  The second Singles also went to three sets but here unfortunately the result was a win for Birkirkara.  Edmond Abela started the game extremely well and beat Samuel Cali 21-17 in the first set.   However,  this was not enough as Samuel won the next two sets 11-21, 13-21.  Edmond tried really hard to win(he even made some goalkeeping acts) but in the end Samuel had his way.  Edmond very soon was the protagonist in our next win when together with his brother Rodney beat I. Salomone and M. Farrugia 21-18, 21-18 to make it 2-1 which was already enough for the Wolves to be crowned Champions. The last game was a classic one in local Badminton as again it went to three very close sets and the odds changed continually throughout the game.  The first set should have gone the Wolves way as they were leading by about four points toward the end of the set. Unfortunately our players seemed to have lost concentration and lost it after setting 20-22.  This was a real setback to Tony and Patrick and it seemed to have affected them as in the second set they were trailing 11-3. It was amazing how they pulled themselves together and won 21-19.  The third set was a different story as after leading throughout the game again lost concentration and lost 19-21.  This was not to mar our victory at all as our aim was reached.  Man of the match was definitely Tony Xuereb.

The first day of June was a red letter day for the Pawla Wolves ladies' team as they won their first ever championship.  And they did so with a game to spare. It was the result of continuous training and determination by each member of the team as well as their coaches. They had already drawn twice and won once against Birkirkara and one more win was enough for them to claim the championship trophy.  Well done to the whole team i.e., Cheryl, Tiziana, Dawn, Xixi, Catriona, Christina and Sharon.

It was Dawn who started our triumph by beating Klara handsomely in the first singles of the match.  She beat her 21/7, 21/3.  Our second singles player was Xixi. She played a brilliant three-setter, played really well, but unfortunately she lost the third game by a whisker.  She won the first set 21/17, lost the second 18/21 and the third 17/21 to Marika.  With the score 1-1 our fortunes now depended on the two doubles games. The first one was awarded to us by Birkirkara since they fielded a player less and thus we were awarded a walkover.. Score 2-1.  A draw was thus garanteed but this was not enough as we needed a win to make sure of the Championship.  This was now literally in the hands(maybe raquets!) of Dawn and Cheryl our second doubles couple.  The first game was won by our girls 21/19.  In the second game Marika and Maria made a good reaction and reversed the score 19/21.  With the score 1-1 our girls needed desperately the third set in order for the club to clinch the Championship.  Although it was a balanced affair  in the end the girls made the game theirs 21-16. 

Again well done girls!  Now it is the boys' turn to become Champions.  All they need is a draw against Birkirkara on the 20th June.  Of course a win is what they are looking for.  

The Pawla Wolves Committee would like to congratulate all the junior players for their effort during the Junior Championships 2010.  Moreover we would like especially to pay tribute to the winners and runners-up in the various categories.  We would like to mention these players together with their award:

Under/13 Boys' Singles         Matthew Abela     Runner-up

Under/13 Girls' Singles       Sacha Cini      Winner

Under/16 Girls' Singles      Joanna Ciantar     Winner

Under/16 Boy's Singles     Matthew Abela   Runner-up

Under/16 Boys' Doubles      Matthew Abela/Owen Grech     Runners-up

Under/19 Girls' Singles     Dominique Francica    Winner

                                                              Catriona Francica        Runner-up 

Under 19 Girls' Doubles   Catriona Francica/Dominique Francica   Winners

                                  Maryse Briffa/Joanna Ciantar   Runners-up

Under/19 Mixed Doubles   Catriona Francica/KyleSciberras   Winners

                                            Maryse Briffa/Owen Grech    Runners-up

From the above results one can see that the club had 5 winners and 6 runners-up positions. I would also like to mention that the club won the Girls' Singles in all the age categories, i.e., UNDER 13;  UNDER 16;  & UNDER 19.  Moreover the Under 19 Girls' competions were dominated completely by our club, well I can say dominated by the Francica sisters since between them they won both competitions.  Well done girls!

Badminton Section

On the 18th the 21st November the Badminton club is involved in the Friendhip Games organized by the MOC.  The club is playing against Sicily and against a locla club in a triangular meeting. The tournament is being held at the Immaculate Conception School in Tarxien.  The following is the timetable of events:

Thursday, 17th November at 7.00 p.m.      Pawla Wolves  vs  Birkirkara B.C.

Friday,       18th November at 1.30 p.m.      Birkirkara           vs  Sicily

                   18th November at 3.30 p.m.      Pawla Wolves   vs Sicily

Saturday   19th November at 10.00 a.m.    Individual Singles Competition

All supporters are welcome.