Top honour for shooter Madyson

Another member of the Malta Shooting Federation, Rebecca Madyson, yesterday became the second sports personality to receive the prestigious Platinum Award during the 2006 MOC Sports Awards night.

Introduced last year, the Platinum Award honours those who produce an outstanding performance on the international scene. The 2005 award went to Double Trap ace William Chetcuti for his impressive scores at World Cup, Med. Games and the GSSE.

Various distinguished personalities attended the presentations night at the Dolmen Hotel, Qawra, yesterday. They were addressed by MOC president Lino Farrugia Sacco who said 2006 was another successful year for Maltese sport.

"Over 50 athletes made their mark on the international scene," he said.

"Their accomplishments have been highlighted in our official programme for the MOC Sports Awards. Due to these achievements today they are being presented a prestigious MOC Sports Award for the merit they deserve."

Mr Justice Farrugia Sacco added that despite budget restraints they are committed to achieve the goals they set for Malta through international representation at Games under the auspices of the MOC.

"The MOC believes in the creation of an environment that contributes to raising the profile of local sport," Mr Justice Farrugia Sacco said.

"Obviously, this all depends on close teamwork with our partners, affiliated members, the hard work of MOC directors and staff and, last but not least, the athletes, coaches and their families."

Madyson (nèe Attard) previously shot Trap for Australia where she won a medal at the Oceania Games.

But since 2004, she registered to shoot for Malta and represented the country at the Commonwealth Games in Australia.

In Melbourne last March, Madyson finished in second place in women's Trap, her silver medal becoming the highest ever won by someone competing for Malta at the Commonwealth Games. In Trap competition there were 12 shooters from nine countries.

This year, Chetcuti had to be content with a Gold Award. The past 12 months saw him securing various significant results, among which the third position in the Commonwealths and a place in the barrage in the World Cup finals in Dubai.

Also receiving the Gold Award yesterday were Duncan Bezzina, Massimo Cremona and the sailors aboard Artie - a JBoat 35-foot yacht.

Bezzina took part in the world Eight-Ball Pool Championships in the UK. He was named best player of the tournament and included in the World Team selection.

Cremona reached the table football World Cup final and is the current world no.1 in the rankings. Since November 2005, he won various international events and is the 2006 national champion.

The Artie crew astounded the odds in October's Rolex Middle Sea Race. With an average age of 25 little was expected of them in a classic race that this year attracted the participation of world renowned skippers, the likes of Paul Cayard, Mike Sanderson and Sebastian Josse.

However, Artie had a commendable all-round effort and finished second in the overall IRC classification, a list that included the timings of 65 other boats. Artie was sixth in IMS for Class B and first overall in their class in IRC.