Mixed fortunes for bowls duo in Pescara

David Farrugia and Reno Farrugia got off to a winning start in the bowls competition at the Mediterranean Games in Pescara yesterday.

The Malta duo beat Serbia Mirko Cupac and Dusko Veselinovic 12-6 in the opening match from Pool One but were unable to extend the winning momentum into the afternoon when they finished on the losing end against Italy.

Home players Alfonso Nanni and Emiliano Benedetti proved too strong for the Maltese who conceded a 2-12 defeat. The Italians had lost their opening match of the tournament to San Marino so they could not afford to slip up against Malta with the top two teams in the group advancing to this evening's semi-finals.

San Marino, who trounced Serbia 12-2, are favourites to claim the top placing. Our team's chances look minimal now as the Farrugias not only have to beat San Marino but they also have to do so with a big score.

David Farrugia will be Malta's only representative in the singles tournament when the event gets under way tomorrow. He was drawn in the same pool with bowls players from San Marino, Turkey and Montenegro.

At the Manoppello Shooting Range, Nazzareno Attard is lagging behind in the provisional standings of the Trap competition.

Yesterday, he could only manage scores of 18, 19 and 24 in his first three rounds to finish the day 24th.

San Marino's Francesco Amici is dominating the competition after two straights of 25 put him on top with 74. The shoot comes to a close today with the remaining 50 clays and barrage final.

Only one race from the scheduled two in the sailing Laser Radial was held yesterday.

Maya Podesta finished low in the rankings after a 13th placing. The regatta was won by Susana Romero Steensma, of Spain. Another two races will be held today.

The women's basketball national team was unable to avoid a second defeat in the qualifying group after going down 81-73 (22-17, 23-14, 18-18, 18-24) at the Elettra Sports Hall, yesterday.

The Maltese, however, produced a better showing than the one of Saturday when they went down heavily to Greece 102-57. For most of the match, Santino Coppa's girls played on a par with Turkey who led 45-31 at the break.

The third session saw both teams potting 18 points each and Malta fought bravely in the last 10-minute quarter to win it 24-18.

However, their bold effort was not enough as Turkey held on to their lead. Rebecca Brincat Thoresen was the best scorer of the match with 21 points.

Greece are topping the table with two wins after beating Serbia 57-53 yesterday.

Malta play their remaining match from Group B against Serbia, today.

In action today

Today, the U-20 football team will be looking to avoid another drubbing after the 5-0 defeat to Turkey on Saturday when they play their remaining group match against France at the Teramo Municipal Stadium.

In tennis, Kimberly Cassar, awarded a bye to the last 16 of the singles, will take on the more-quoted Cagla Buyukakcay, of Turkey. Cassar's opponent is no.365 in the WTA list and seeded fifth in the Pescara tournament.

Wrestler Abraham Vassallo will be in action in the early rounds of the men's 84kg freestyle.

Golfers Andy Borg, Christopher Bergedahl and John J. Micallef Verelst play in the opening rounds of the individual and team competitions.