Chetcuti, Ciantar head list of finalists

The Għaqda Kittieba Sports yesterday announced the list of finalists for the 2008 Sportivi Nazzjonali contest during a meeting with Parliamentary Secretary for Sport, Clyde Puli, at the Mediterranean Conference Centre.

None of the 2007 winners were shortlisted for the finals night at the Le Meridien Hotel in St Julian's on January 31.

As expected, Double Trap shooter William Chetcuti and Powerboats P1 world champion Aaron Ciantar made the cut but Tony Drago, who left his mark in pool and the Mosconi Cup, did not figure among the finalists.

The list was completed by a sub-committee, headed by Mario Meli, Willie Vassallo and Benny Pace, the Sportivi Nazzjonali founder, who took into consideration the exploits of Maltese sportsmen/women on the local and foreign scenes.

Chetcuti is again favourite to land the Sportsman of the Year award for a record sixth time in the journalists poll. He won the award five times in a row between 2002 and 2006 but last year the accolade went to Michael Mifsud.

Last August, Chetcuti achieved Malta's best ever result in the Olympics when placing eighth in Beijing.

Bowling's Sue Abela heads the field in the women's contest which also includes Madeleine Scerri (swimming), Annabelle Olivieri Munroe (squash), Danica Spiteri (triathlon) and Martina Xuereb (athletics). Xuereb's sister, Francesca, was the winner last year.

Ciantar and Conam Yachts are clear favourites for the Team of the Year award, a category that also features the national teams of pool, squash, waterpolo and basketball.

MOC secretary Joe Cassar is in contention for the Official of the Year award along with Envic Galea (judo), Julian Pace Bonello (bowling), Salvu Portelli (shooting) and snooker referee Terry Camilleri.

Charles Camenzuli, the sportswriters association president, said the 2008 format of voting will be adopted whereby the votes of sports editors and TV sports co-ordinators will count for 25 per cent of the final result. Association members will also take part in the ballot.

On January 31, Camenzuli said, the GħKS will also acknowledge the feats of Antonio Flores who competed in the 2007 Paralympics. The association will also honour a veteran journalist for his contribution to the sport.

Also present for yesterday's meeting was Bernard Vassallo, the Kunsill Malti għall-iSport chairman.

He addressed those present and talked about the major 2009 commitments for his organisation.

Vassallo also announced that the KMS will allocate €375,000 to the MOC as assistance for 2009, an increase of around €14,000 on the previous year.

Parliamentary Secretary Puli again reiterated the government's main target for 2009 is to increase participation in sports activities among the Maltese.

"We are planning to launch a series of initiatives in conjunction with the local councils to attract more people to sports," he said.

"This initiative will be beneficial to Maltese sports in general as it will be an ideal opportunity for scouts to hunt for new talent."

The finalists

Sportsman of the Year: C. Attard (pool), A. Borg (snooker), W. Chetcuti (shooting), C. Degiorgio (horse racing), R. Gambin (swimming).

Sportswoman of the year: S. Abela (bowling), A. Olivieri Munroe (squash), M. Scerri (swimming), D. Spiteri (triathlon), M. Xuereb (athletics).

Team of the year: national basketball team (women), national pool team (men), national squash team (women), national waterpolo team (men), A. Ciantar (Conam yachts) - powerboats.

Official of the Year: T. Camilleri (snooker), J. Cassar (MOC), E. Galea (judo), J. Pace Bonello (bowling), S. Portelli (shooting).

U-17 award: R. Bugeja (shooting), C. Farrugia (shooting), E. Fleri Soler (sailing), C. Sultana (squash), T. Zammit Tabona (sailing).