Golfer Borg equals course record

Maltese golfer Andrew Borg rounded his participation in the Mediterranean Games on a high yesterday. In the fourth and final round of the 72-hole competition, Borg was three under par to equal the course record established by Spaniard Ignacio Sanchez, the eventual winner, in round two of the four-day event.

Borg's excellent performance on the final day propelled him to 11th overall among 37 competitors. He finished with a total score of 19 over par (307), just one shot more than Spain's Jordi Garcia who was 10th.

Sanchez, the overnight leader, held on to top spot to secure the gold medal with an aggregate score of two over par (290).

Julien Grillon of France was second on five over par (293) with Turkey's Hamza Hakan Sayin taking bronze with six over par (294).

Borg's result in Almeria shows a significant improvement on his last participation in the Games four years ago in Tunis when he was 21st from 25 golfers. His performance yesterday atoned for his disappointing showing on Wednesday when a negative third-round score of 10 over par (82) saw Borg slipping from joint-tenth to 19th in the classification.

Borg was one of only six players to finish under par in any of the four rounds of the golf competition.

Maria Hernandez of Spain was the gold medal winner in the women's competition after topping the event with a total score of 10 over par (298).

She placed ahead of Elena Giraud and Anne Lise Caudal, both of France, who finished with 12 over par (300).

On the athletics track, Darren Gilford and Jeandre Mallia failed to qualify for the 100 metres final after finishing fifth and sixth in their respective semi-final heats.

In the event's first heat, Mallia clocked 11.17 seconds to finish outside his personal best of 10.90 he set in Andorra last month. Luca Verdecchia of Italy won the heat in 10.47 and was joined in the final by Jan Zumer of Slovenia (10.62).

Running in the second 100m heat, Gilford, who has a personal best of 10.55 seconds, could only place fifth in 10.88. Aristeidis Petridis of Greece (10.48) and Slovenia's Matic Osov-nikar (10.49) made it to the final.

Gilford and Mallia will again be in action this evening. They will team up with sprinting partners Rashid Chouhal and Mario Bonello for the 4x100 metres final.

The Maltese quartet are aiming to improve on the national record of 40.63 seconds they set earlier this month in the Andorra GSSE on their way to winning the gold medal.

Maltese participation in the Med. Games wraps up tomorrow when Carol Galea runs in the half marathon and Chouhal lines up for the long jump final.

Galea, widely acclaimed as Malta's queen of sport because of her impressive collection of medals, will bid for a second podium finish in these Games. In 1997 she gained a silver medal in the women's marathon.