Med. Games start today
Football, basketball teams first in action for Malta
A record contingent of 43 athletes will represent Malta in the 16th Mediterranean Games which officially get under way with an opening ceremony this evening in Pescara, Italy.
The Maltese Olympic Committee will be looking to restore some stability in its ranks following the Games of the Small States of Europe which left the country with a modest tally of medals in return after what many had described as a below-par showing in Cyprus.
Perhaps, some satisfactory results in Pescara between today and July 5 will help to lift spirits and reduce the tension that gripped the local sports scene after a series of opinions were published in the local media, most criticising the Maltese selectors for the poor performance in Nicosia.
The country's best hopes for a medal again hinge on William Chetcuti, the double trap shooter who won Malta's only medal in the Med. Games in Almeria four years ago when he finished third in his competition.
In Italy, Team Malta will be headed by MOC president Lino Farrugia Sacco.
The numbers in the Maltese contingent are also bountiful thanks to the participation of the U-20 football team (18 players) and Santino Coppa's basketball girls team (12 players), gold medallists in Cyprus earlier this month.
These two sides will be in action first. The football team plays its first Group B match against Turkey tomorrow. The other team in the group is France.
In basketball, the Maltese were pitted in Group B along with the strong sides of Serbia, Turkey and Greece. Tomorrow, Malta plays against Greece at 4.30 p.m.
Malta will be represented in ten sport - athletics, shooting, basketball, football, tennis, canoeing, sailing, wrestling, golf and bowls.
The Pescara organisers have drawn up a programme of competitions in 28 different sport.
The nations taking part will be 23, two more than Almeria 2005.
These are Albania, Andorra, Bosnia, Croatia, Cyprus, Slovenia, Spain, France, Greece, Italy, Malta, Montenegro, Monaco, San Marino, Serbia, Turkey, Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, Tunisia, Lebanon and Syria.
The new events introduced this year are golf, karate, water-skiing and roller skating. In all, organisers are expecting the presence of 4,180 athletes in the Abruzzo region this week.
Chris Camilleri will be making his Med. Games debut in canoeing and golfers Andrew Borg, Christopher Bergedahl and John J. Micallef Verelst are also geared up for their first showing in the Games which are held every four years.
The first Med. Games took place in Egypt in 1951. Volos, Greece, will host the 2013 edition.
Malta contingent
Athletics: N. Portelli.
Bowls: D. Farrugia, N. Farrugia.
Basketball: Women's national team.
Canoeing: C. Camilleri.
Football: U-21 national team.
Golf: A. Borg, C. Bergedahl, J.J. Micallef Verelst.
Sailing: M. Podesta.
Shooting: N. Attard, W. Chetcuti, C. Farrugia.
Tennis: K. Cassar.
Wrestling: A. Vassallo.