Maltese swimmers scoop 11 medals at National Pool

It was quite a bountiful day for Malta in the pool on the first day of the FISEC Games swimming com-petition yesterday as local swimmers scooped a total of 11 medals, seven by the girls and four by the boys.

These consisted of two golds, four silvers and five bronze, with Talisa Pace taking pride of place in the individual event when winning the 200m freestyle race.

Later on in the day, the track and field Malta team collected two other medals at the Marsa sports ground to round up a fine day for the locals.

Andrew Cassar Torreggiani was second in long jump with a leap of 6.75 metres. Jonathan Camilleri was third in the hammer throw.

Athletics events continue today with a series of finals scheduled to start at 4 p.m.

At the National Pool, the girls quartet of Melinda Sue Micallef, Nikki Muscat, Maxine Scerri and Pace won the 4x100m freestyle relay to win Malta's second gold medal of the day.

Micallef, Pace, Scerri and Muscat each won a silver medal in the 50 breast, 50 free, 200 free and 100 back respectively. Micallef also picked a bronze in the one-lap freestyle event.

In the boys' races, Mark Sammut led the list with two individual bronze medals in the 200 free and 100 back while Robert Micallef took a bronze in the 400 IM.

In the last race of the day, the 4x200m, the boys' relay team of Andrew Chetcuti, Robert Micallef, Eduard Caruana Dingli and Sammut won the bronze medal.

The day also produced four age-group records in swimming. These were in the 50 free Group D, 28.06 by Pace, 50 breast Group C, 32.99 by Daniel Galea, 100 back Group C, 1:10.48 by Muscat, and 100 back Group C, 1:05.83 by Sammut.

Elsewhere, the futsal team, buoyed by their sound performance in their previous match at the De La Salle College, showed the same kind of determined play that earned them a 5-2 victory over Portugal on Wednesday after holding Spain to a four-all draw despite having a player sent off.

Christian Muscat (2), Randall Refalo and Rowen Muscat were the scorers for the Maltese team.

In football, the home team registered a second successive draw, this time a 0-0 stalemate with Spain A at the Centenary Stadium.

In table tennis girls' doubles, the Maltese won a silver medal after finishing second in the tournament behind the French. Portugal were third in the final standings.

In boys' doubles, the locals had to settle for a third place behind France and Portugal.

At the University Sports Hall, the handball team suffered a second successive defeat after falling to Spain 19-16 in a close match.

France, who beat Malta 22-17 on Wednesday, yesterday had to settle for a 21-all draw with Hungary as the race for the honours at Tal-Qroqq looks likely to go all the way.

At Ta' Qali, Samuel Deguara again shone for the Maltese basketball team when potting 29 points on the way to a clear 72-40 victory over Spain 'A'.

Pope's message

On the occasion of the 60th FISEC Games, Pope Benedict XVI sent a message to the athletes and officials currently in Malta.

He augured that the Games will strengthen the Christian values of the participants and become a means of better friendship and solidarity among all.

In his message, the Pope urged the athletes to endorse the true ideals of the sport which are based on honesty, teamwork and discipline.

Meanwhile, this evening all participants in the Games will gather at the New Dolmen Hotel, Qawra, for a traditional social evening during which athletes exchange souvenirs and other items related to the various countries in the FISEC fold.