Diane Desira, the 2003 GSSE gold medallist, will be making a return to Team Malta for the Liechtenstein Games as the Australia-based player was this week selected in the squash team.
With less than three weeks from the opening ceremony in Vaduz, the deadline established by the hosts for participating nations to complete their list of athletes passed last Sunday.
For this year’s edition, the 14th in the series, Malta will be represented by a shortened contingent as 61 athletes will make the trip to central Europe. Two years ago, in Cyprus, the Maltese Olympic Committee competed with a group of 90 but during those Games our selection included the two basketball teams.
Desira, who won gold in women’s singles and team event at the Marsa Sports Club eight years ago, will be one of five foreign-based players in the squash selec-tion.
She will be joined by her brother Joseph, who had also featured for Malta before, Michael Fiteni, the singles champion in 2003, and UK-based players Brad Hindle-Deguara (world no.83) and Daniel Zammit-Lewis who will be making their first appearance in the Games.
Zammit-Lewis, 18, has already represented Malta at international level as he featured in the team that placed sixth in the Euro Champion-ships in Budapest last month.
Elsewhere, another former GSSE gold medallist who could be form-ing part of the Maltese contingent is Dave Millar.
The Scottish cyclist, who was born in Malta, had already made his feelings clear last year that he was ready to represent our country in Liechtenstein.
However, sources close to the Malta Cycling Federation yes-terday told The Times that his presence in the team is not yet confirmed. Millar, it seems, is still seeking assurances from the Bri-tish Olympic Committee that his participation in the GSSE would not jeopardise his chances of featuring for Great Britain in the 2012 Olympic Games.
In tennis, the Maltese team is likely to have a newcomer as Nick Camilleri, who resides in Australia, has confirmed his participation along with Malta’s no.1 player Matthew Asciak.
Elena Jetcheva and Kim Cassar will play in the women’s events.
In table tennis, another Australia-based player, Simon Gerada, has been recalled to team up with Malta champion Daniel Bajada.
Gerada, winner of a bronze medal in Cyprus, and Bajada, who is plying his trade in the Italian Serie B, will be under the supervision of Andrejz Makowski, a former gold medallist for Malta in the GSSE.
The Maltese judo federation has opted for a token team to travel to Liechtenstein this year with the group consisting of Jeremy Saywell, Brent Law, Marcon Bezzina and Joanna Camilleri.
Herrera qualifies
Mark Herrera became the latest track and field athlete to achieve the Minimum Qualifying Standard for the Games when he clocked a time inside the limit established by the Maltese Olympic Committee in the 1,500 metres last weekend.
The relay teams in both 4x100 and 4x400 events have also achieved the MQS but Athletics Malta still have to decide on their best quartets.
Nikolai Portelli, one of the potential candidates for a slot in the relays, has yet to prove his fitness for Liechtenstein.
The Pembroke sprinter will be hoping to impress during Satur-day’s aggregate meet at Marsa.