Malta continued to impress at the WPA Blackball World Championships 2026 in London, with several players and doubles partnerships securing places in the quarter-finals following another successful day of competition.
Miguel Amato advanced to the last eight of the Men’s Singles, while three Maltese pairs progressed in the Men’s Doubles. There was also success in the youth categories, with Chaylon Castaldi reaching the U23 Singles quarter-finals and Jake Castaldi and Dielyn Edwards advancing in the U18 Doubles.
The Malta U18 national team also maintained its impressive form in the team competition, recording victories over India and Ireland.
In the Men’s Singles, Amato produced a convincing performance to defeat Morocco’s Bouchaib Farhat 6-3 and book his place in the quarter-finals.
However, compatriot Johan Attard was unable to follow him into the last eight after suffering a 6-3 defeat against England’s Clint I’Anson in the Round of 16.
The U23 Singles competition featured an all-Maltese encounter between Chaylon Castaldi and Matthias Debono, with Castaldi emerging victorious by five frames to one.
Casdy Vella, meanwhile, was eliminated after losing 5-0 to France’s Leonardo Moreira.
Malta enjoyed further success in the Men’s Doubles, where three partnerships secured quarter-final places.
Miguel Mizzi and Clevion Micallef edged a closely contested encounter against England’s Gareth Hibbott and Clint I’Anson, winning 4-3.
Clint Azzopardi and Miguel Amato also progressed after registering a comfortable 4-1 victory over Ireland’s G. Mooney and B. Fitzpatrick.
Johan Attard and Clayton Castaldi completed the Maltese trio in the last eight after defeating South Africa’s D. Naidoo and F. Cassim 4-2.
Keith Caruana and Gabriel Vella narrowly missed out on joining them, losing 4-3 to the French pairing of K. Ballon and Y. Beaufils.
In the U18 Doubles, Jake Castaldi and Dielyn Edwards produced another encouraging performance, defeating India’s K. Gokul Seshadri and M. Mustafa 4-1 to secure their quarter-final berth.
However, Casdy Vella and Denzel Falzon were eliminated from the U23 Doubles following a 4-1 defeat against South Africa’s K. Hayward and J. Govindasamy.
Malta U18 continue impressive run
Malta’s U18 national team maintained its excellent form in the team competition with two more victories.
The young Maltese players dominated their encounter against India U18, registering an emphatic 14-1 victory.
They followed that performance with a hard-fought 9-6 success against Ireland U15, further underlining their competitiveness at international level.
The Malta U23 national team endured a more difficult outing, suffering a 10-5 defeat against France U23.
Crucial quarter-final encounters
Monday’s programme featured another demanding schedule for the Maltese contingent, with several important team fixtures followed by knockout matches in the Singles and Doubles competitions.
In the team events, Malta U23 were scheduled to face South Africa at 10am UK time, while Malta Men’s A were also due to meet South African opposition.
Malta Men’s B were set to take on England at 12.30pm, before the Men’s A team returned to action against France at 3pm.
At the same time, Malta U18 were scheduled to face England U18 in another important encounter.
The Doubles quarter-finals, scheduled for 5.30pm, included an all-Maltese contest between Johan Attard and Clayton Castaldi and the pairing of Miguel Mizzi and Clevion Micallef, guaranteeing Malta at least one place in the Men’s Doubles semi-finals.
Clint Azzopardi and Miguel Amato were also due to face France’s K. Ballon and Y. Beaufils for a place in the last four.
In the U23 Doubles, Chaylon Castaldi and Matthias Debono were scheduled to meet South African opposition, while Jake Castaldi and Dielyn Edwards were set to face Australia’s E. Nagati and P. Roberts in the U18 Doubles.
The evening programme featured three Maltese players in Singles quarter-final action, with all matches scheduled for 7pm UK time.
Amato faced a difficult challenge against England’s Gareth Hibbott in the Men’s Singles, while Chaylon Castaldi was drawn against another English player, Rhys Woodward, in the U23 competition.
Denzel Falzon was also scheduled to compete in the U18 Singles quarter-finals against South Africa’s Theolandre Joubert.
With several Maltese players still involved in the knockout stages and the national teams continuing their campaigns, Malta remained strongly represented across multiple categories of the championships.
Sports Editor
Veteran Journalist
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