Chouhal betters hammer throw record at Marsa meeting

It is a fact that within the Athletics Malta roll of honour, the national records to fall at the senior level in recent times have mostly been in the field events, leaving aside the meritorious achievements regularly obtained by the youngsters at the lower categories.

Undoubtedly, a measure of satisfaction to the association, in its bid to encourage local athletes to take up interest in events not so widely practised here, is the effort being undertaken by throwers to get up to scratch in order to be competitive during the looming European Championships.

Hence, the investment to secure regular visits by the British throws coach Paul Wilson, who is mentoring Maltese hopefuls and their coaches.

All these efforts are expected to bear fruit in the coming days and weeks, as heralded last weekend when Antonella Chouhal bettered the previous mark in the hammer throw, hurling the sphere a distance of 30.32 metres.

Her discus pitch of 40.57 metres was also a seasonal best, adding further encouragement to Athletics Malta. With the prevailing windy conditions, one could hardly expect any better elsewhere, and indeed, a number of athletes desisted from taking part at this meet.

Nonetheless, Alessandra Pace registered a long jump of 5.75 metres, Mark Herrera and Neil Brimmer ran a creditable time in the 800m and so did Lisa Bezzina in the 1,500m.

In the final race of the day, it was seasoned athletes Gerald Grech and Jonathan Balzan who battled it out in the 5,000m, with Libertas runner Grech who finished ahead, making the most of his longer experience at running on a stadium circuit.

But the event that gave most heart to the team selectors was the 400m for men, where good times were registered by Matthew Croker and Brimmer, the Savio sprinter finishing the one lap in 50.92 to Brimmer's 51.16 seconds.

Now all eyes will be on today's meet when more athletes should be present at the track except, of course, the long distance runners.

They will be at Mosta for the last encounter in the season's road running league. Leaders Mellieħa seem poised to capture the team title.

Concurrently, the Masters 10km, on the same course, is expected to be as evenly contested.