Exiles were pitted with San Giljan, Sirens, Otters and Marsaxlokk in Section B of this year’s waterpolo league when the draws were made on Tuesday 13th May at the Head Office of BOV who are once again backing  the championship.

New format

The ten participating teams were split into two Groups with Section A being made up of Neptunes, Sliema, Valletta Marsascala and Ta’ Xbiex. The teams play one preliminary round with the first three placed teams in each group qualifying to the second round to form the Premier Division whilst the fourth and fifth placed teams in each group will compete in the First Division. In this phase, the Premier Division will consist of two rounds whilst in the First Division, the four teams will cross swords three times. The final part of this season’s competition will see the top three teams of the Premier battling in the Championship Pool over two rounds whilst the bottom three teams also play two rounds to establish the bottom placed of the remaining three teams in the Relegation Pool and play the winner of the First Division.

The league will start on the 6th June when current champions Neptunes take on Marsascala whilst Exiles make their debut the following day when they meet Marsaxlokk. Points won in the Preliminary Round are carried forward to the next round.

Prospects

The draw has favoured Exiles as they avoided two of the big guns Neptunes and Sliema in the preliminary stages. The level of the  opposing teams in our section will  also allow precious time to Coach Maurizio Mirarchi to have both new foreign players better integrated with the rest of the team and be in shape for the uphill tasks in the Premier League

KaFa

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