The Malta Junior National Championships 2017 have just come to an end and we’re super happy with what our young players have managed to achieve. HiTT Academy has without any doubt proven to be the strongest table tennis club in Malta in terms of performance, player base and most importantly in terms of results.
Some numbers
HiTT Academy players claimed 14 out of 23 titles as well as 8 runner up places. We totally dominated the U21 category, breezed through the U11 singles and doubles events, secured top positions in the U18s and managed to obtain fantastic results also in U13 and U15. This is an amazing result that makes us really proud. And while congratulations go to the winners, all other HiTT Academy players must be commended for their efforts in all categories since they have all done their best.
With our players totalling 45% of all participants in the championship events, HiTT Academy remains the largest table tennis club in Malta. This means that our players get the chance to vary their training partners at each and every session on a regular basis apart from the many foreign players that visit the club at regular intervals. This boosts performance since players learn to adapt to various styles and learn how to respond depending on the style of play.
We are currently operating 9 training sessions per week to make sure to offer all players the opportunity to train as much as they can. In the run-up to the championships, we organised extra sessions for players that served as a turbo boost before the championships. The results are clearly visible!
What’s next?
The coming months include more important milestones for our club. We’re currently a few days away from the Easter Camp for which HiTT Academy is bringing over Eli Baraty, a top British coach with lots of credentials. With him we shall also be having a number of elite players from the UK as guests.
After the camp we look forward to the continuation of the national league where a minimum of 3 HiTT Academy teams are guaranteed promotion to higher divisions. This will be another moment of celebration for the HiTT family. Other events include the return of coach Uriy Leymanovskiy to Malta in the coming weeks as well as the Senior National Championships in mid-May.
Full list of awarded titles
This is a list of all the titles won by HiTT Academy players during the Junior National championships:
| Under 11 | Boys – Winner | Jake Darmanin |
| Boys Doubles – Winners | Luke Bonello & Jake Darmanin | |
| Under 13 | Girls – Runner Up | Rachel Mifsud |
| Open Doubles – Runners Up | Sean Debono & Malcolm Debono | |
| Under 15 | Boys Plate – Winner | Jake Abela |
| Boys Plate – Runner Up | Paul Cordina | |
| Boys Doubles – Runners Up | Sean Debono & Malcolm Debono | |
| Boys Doubles Plate – Winners | Aidan Caruana & Jake Abela | |
| Boys Doubles Plate – Runners Up | Paul Cordina & Mattija Caruana | |
| Mixed Doubles – Runners Up | Rachel Mifsud & Sean Debono | |
| Under 18 | Boys – Winner | Gabriel Grixti |
| Boys – Runner Up | Isaac Grixti | |
| Boys Plate – Winner | Malcolm Debono | |
| Boys Plate – Runner Up | Justin Demanuele | |
| Boys Doubles – Winners | Gabriel Grixti & Isaac Grixti | |
| Boys Doubles Plate – Winners | Sean Debono & Malcolm Debono | |
| Under 21 | Boys – Winner | Gabriel Grixti |
| Boys Plate – Winner | Andrew Catania | |
| Girls – Winner | Sascha Genovese | |
| Boys Doubles – Winners | Gabriel Grixti & Isaac Grixti | |
| Boys Doubles Plate – Winners | Sean Debono & Malcolm Debono | |
| Mixed Doubles – Winners | Sascha Genovese & Gabriel Grixti | |
