Ideal test for Maltese hopefuls

The fourth Mediterranean Friendship Games get under way today with the first competitions from the annual multi-sport event organised by the Maltese Olympic Committee in conjunction with CONI Sicilia.

The two-day event sees local athletes, representing those sport outside the Mediterranean and Commonwealth Games or the GSSE, compete against their Sicilian counterparts and looking to leave their mark in view of future commitments.

The programme this year is composed of 10 sport – badminton, chess, canoeing, equestrian, fencing, golf, karate, pool, triathlon and beach volley.

Team Malta has 60 representatives who will be looking to regain the Friendship Games Trophy they conceded last year in Trapani when the Sicilians played hosts.

Among the most-awaited competitions this weekend will be the triathlon race, tomorrow afternoon at the Salina Coast Road.

Both Team Malta and CONI Sicilia are expected to field their best athletes thus ensuring a very tight race.

Local hopes rest on Keith Galea, Mark Zammit and Danica Bonello Spiteri. The latter won the women’s title last year.

The MOC, who expects its member federations to strengthen links with their Sicilian counterparts through the Games, will be gauging the performance in beach volley, in particular.

When the Friendship Games were launched earlier this month, the MOC said that these competitions represent an ideal test for beach volley to stake a claim in Team Malta for next year’s GSSE in Liechtenstein.

Besides pool, the locals are also expected to produce a strong showing in golf with Chris Bergedahl, Peter Satariano and Andy Borg in the team for the competition at Marsa.

Team Malta

Badminton: M. Borg, F. Farrugia, S. Salomone, R. Salomone, C. Dimech, J. Cassar, D. Cole, K. Vella.
Chess: C. Pace, M. Psaila, D. Vella, C. Psaila, O. Said, J. Richards.
Canoeing: G. Degaetano, M. Schembri, S. Gauci, N. Borg Costanzi.
Equestrian: C. Lawrence, C. Borg, D. Shmidt, M. Draper, T. Xuereb, E. Meli, R. Zammit Cutajar, S. Micallef.
Fencing: K. Mifsud, P. Bianchi, A. Zahra, K. Storace, P. Borg, M. Muscat Baron.
Golf: A. Borg, P. Satariano, C. Bergedahl.
Karate: P. Falzon, K. Falzon, J. Galea.
Pool: C. Attard, J. Attard, M. Brincat, C. Cassar, R. Caruana, I. Rizzo.
Triathlon: K. Galea, M. Zammit, D. Bonello Spiteri, D. Callus, B. Magri, N. Farrugia, S. Farrugia, M. Micallef.
Beach volley: M. Demicoli, A. Borg, G. Zarb, L. Cordina, R. Balzan, G. Cachia, P. Vella, P. Tonna.