Last weekend saw the 49th edition of the Badminton National Championships come to an end with some thrilling semifinals and finals.

On Finals day, in the men’s singles, Matthew Abela confirmed his 5th title after beating upcoming youngster Samuel Cassar 15-21, 21-17, 21-15, in his first singles final.  These 2 athletes live and train in Denmark, at Badminton Europe’s Centre of Excellence and offered the spectators present at Cottonera Sports Complex with an exciting 3-set final.

In the women’s singles Fiorella M Sadowski showed a solid performance which led her to win her 9th consecutive title and confirmed her dominance in recent years, after beating 15-year old Francesca Clark in the final, 21-13, 21-10. This was her first singles final for her in the National Championships

The Mixed Doubles final was a family affair between Mark Abela/AnnMarie Bezzina and Matthew Abela/Sarah Fava.  The latter played a very solid match, rarely making mistakes and ended up taking the title home 9-21, 12-21.

Young pair Samuel Cassar/Mark Abela faced past national champions, Stefan Salomone/Samuel Cali, 21-12, 16-21, 21-13 in another thrilling 3-set final, taking their second title home.

Newly formed pairs Francesca Clark/Sarah Fava and Christabel Cachia/Elenia Haber, made their way to face each other in the women’s doubles final.  Clark/Fava showed a solid performance and bagged their first title 21-12, 21-14.  This was Sarah’s return to the badminton scene after a long recovery following an injury sustained in the National Championships finals 2 years ago.

Owen Grech, Badminton Malta’s President, said this edition was yet another successful one.  On behalf of the Executive Council he thanks Cottonera Sports Complex Management and staff, who contributed in making the running of the tournament very smooth.  Special thanks goes to MaltaSportsOnline, local representatives for VICTOR, who presented winners and runners-up with prizes. He also thanked all the volunteers who found the time to help and make sure the event was organized on a professional level.  He also congratulated all winners and participants.