Locals finish on a high

The last day of the 2008 FISEC Games saw the locals figure prominently among the medal winners in various venues around the island.

There was sheer joy and elation in football and futsal, as well as track and field and swimming, even though there was an upset at the end of the day as the valiant basketball team just failed to win the boys' final.

They lost by a mere two points to the Italian team but with FISEC International laying emphasis on friendship and participation, the setback failed to mar the atmosphere as later in the evening the locals mixed with the almost 800 visitors for the Games for the closing ceremony in Buġibba.

At the Centenary Stadium, Malta U-17 prevailed in another nerve-racking penalty shoot-out and beat England 4-2 after a 1-1 draw.

Having booked their place in the football final after scraping past Flanders 4-3, also on penalties on Saturday, Oliver Spiteri's team were determined to stave off England's challenge but their task was not an easy one.

Matthew Agius hit a brilliant goal for Malta but the two teams were tied at 1-1 at the end of normal time. Malta showed better composure in the shoot-out as they scored four times through Jean Paul Farrugia, Mark Spiteri, Agius and Steve Pisani.

Goalkeeper Sam Bartolo was also instrumental in the success as he pulled off a series of fine saves, not only yesterday but throughout the entire competition.

In the third place play-off, Spain 'B' edged Flanders 1-0 and earlier in the day, France had the better of Spain 'A' 4-3 on penalties.

Malta's triumph in 11-a-side football was emulated by their futsal counterparts on the pitches of the De La Salle College.

The team, guided by Raymond Schembri, clinched gold with a 7-4 victory over Hungary in their final match with goals from Jesus Camilleri (2), William Camilleri (2), Tristan Caruana, Randall Refalo and Andreas Galea.

In the match for second place, Portugal went down 3-6 to Spain.

At Marsa, eight Maltese girls on the last podium of the day ensured that the 60th edition of the Games will be one to remember for Athletics Malta.

With an impressive haul of 18 medals (four gold, nine silver and five bronze), the presentation ceremony for the 4x100m relay was the crowning piece for Malta's 'girl power'.

Indeed, Martina Xuereb was the most decorated athlete with one gold and three silver medals. For the boys, what went amiss in numbers was made up for in quality.

Michael Fraser was registered for three events and he finished with two gold medals (200 and 400m) and a silver in the longer relay.

His 400m gold, in 49.16 seconds, was not only accomplished with relative ease, but it also meant the end of Mario Bonello's 15-year-old junior record over the one-lap distance.

In the 300m sprint, twins Francesca and Martina Xuereb had to be separated by the electronic timing, awarding them times of 39.51 and 39.53 seconds respectively and Malta's fourth gold for Francesca - one to equal Martina's previous feat in the 200m.

Following upon the bronze gained over the 300m hurdles, Marija Sciberras proved once and for all that her showings are no fluke. The silver earned in the 110m hurdles yesterday was a show of sheer finishing power, albeit following a rather slow start.

All in all, besides the medals, most of the Malta members posted seasonal or best personal performances, and, as in a few instances, even national records.

Finally, on an international note, the Games in Malta are also to include a new FISEC record. It was established yesterday in the 110m hurdles by Edgar Carrolo, of Portugal, in exactly 14 seconds.

It was also a satisfactory ending for the Maltese swimmers in the National Pool as the girls' team won a silver and the boys a bronze on a day reserved for team competitions.

With 135 points, Netherlands preceded Malta (123) in the girls' events, with Great Britain getting the bronze on 117 points. The boys had a total of 81 points to finish third behind Great Britain (105) and France (99).

The high point of the morning for the Maltese was a national record in the 4x50m freestyle relay for girls who recorded 1:56.14 to clip 0.38 seconds off the previous mark set two years ago. The team was made up of Nikki Muscat, Giannella Gauci, Melinda Sue Micallef and Talisa Pace.

At the basketball pavilion, Samuel Deguara's 27 points were not enough this time as the Maltese lost to Italy 70-68. The locals held advantage for most of the match but could not preseve the lead until the final whistle as the wily Italians kept cool to pot the points that mattered.

The play-off for third place was won by Flanders. They beat France 65-63.

The French girls were the basketball competition winners. Flanders were second and Spain third.

In the boys' handball competition, Malta failed to follow their 23-all draw against Hungary on Saturday with another positive result after conceding a 29-12 defeat to Austria, the gold medal winners.

Portugal and France finished second and third respectively.

In the girls' handball competition, Portugal finished first ahead of Holland and France.

The Flanders teams won the volleyball competitions for both boys and girls yesterday.

Next year, the Portuguese city of Algarve will host the 61st FISEC Games.