Bonello fails to reach 200m race final
Borg slips to 19th, Bezzina eliminated after two bouts
Veteran sprinter Mario Bonello yesterday bowed out of the 200m race in the Mediterranean Games in Spain after finishing sixth in his heat in 21.92 seconds.
Four weeks ago, Bonello, 31, ran the distance in 21.95 to finish third in Andorra. However, yesterday's field included more experienced sprinters with France's Idrissa Mbarke making it to the final with the fastest time of 21.07 in the heats.
Mbarke qualified a hundredth of a second faster than Slovenia's Matic Osovnikar, the eventual gold medal winner in 20.75 seconds.
Bonello's reaction time was 0.213 of a second. Overall, he was classified 13th. Egypt's Amr Seowd did not finish the race. In the 200m race, Bonello enjoys a personal best of 21.46 seconds. The national record belongs to Rashid Chouhal - 21.41.
Bonello, who after Andorra 2005 hinted this will be his last year in track and field, will take the day off today to prepare for the 4x100m relay tomorrow. He will team up with Jeandre Mallia, Darren Gilford and Chouhal.
This evening, Mallia and Gilford will take part in the 100m heats. The final will be held at 9.15 p.m.
Chouhal will again be in action on Saturday for the long jump. On the same day, Carol Galea will be looking to repeat her 1997 Mediterranean Games achievement in the half-marathon.
In Bari, eight years ago, Galea, 42, finished the 13.1-mile race in second place, probably the highlight in the evergreen long distance runner's glittering career.
Malta golfer Andrew Borg yesterday finished his third-round play with a modest 10 over par on the 72-hole Mediterranean Village Course.
Borg had started the day joint 10th with Libya's Akl Rachid (12 over par - 156) but his 82 score saw him slipping down the rankings to no.19 from an entry of 37 in the tournament.
Spain's Ignacio Sanchez is still leading the provisional standings with a 220 overall (+4). Frenchman Julien Grillon (221) and another Spanish golfer, Jose Luis Adarrage (223) are second and third respectively. Borg's accumulated score after three rounds is 238 (+22).
Maria Hernandez, of Spain, is the clear favourite in the women's golf tournament. She leads with 219 (+3), ahead of France's Anne Lise Caudal, 223 (+7). Both individual golf tournaments continue today.
At the Rafael Florido Sports Hall, Marcon Bezzina was among the competitors in the -57kg category which included 10 judokas in all.
Bezzina's first bout was against Serbia's Radmilla Perisic who proceeded to the next round after a three-minute contest.
Bezzina was then eliminated after losing her bout with strong Frenchwoman Fanny Riaboff. The latter finished third behind winner Isabel Fernandez Gutierrez, of Spain, and Greece's Ioulietta Boukouvala.
Chetcuti returns
Bronze medallist William Chetcuti arrived yesterday from Almeria together with his coach Jimmy Bugeja and Malta Shooting Federation president Saviour Portelli.
Chetcuti, 20, was third in the Double Trap shoot on Monday with 180 hits, just one clay behind silver medal winner and world record holder Daniele Di Spigno, of Italy.
Marco Innocenti, another Italian, won the competition with 184 clays.