GSSE medallists dominate list of nominees

The Maltese Olympic Committee (MOC) will honour the country’s leading performers in 2011 during a gala night at the Grand Hotel Excelsior on Wednesday night.

Mark Cutajar, the MOC Director of Sport, told a news conference yesterday that, as 2011 was a memorable year for Maltese sport, it was not difficult for the organisers to choose the nominees for this year’s awards.

“The Maltese Olympic Committee had rightly predicted at the start of 2011 that this year could be one of the most glorious in the history of Maltese sport and we were proved right thanks to the performances of our athletes.

“The Liechtenstein GSSE produced one of the best achievements for the MOC as Team Malta managed its best ever result away from our shores.

“However, GSSE was not the only high point of the past 12 months as we had other athletes who distinguished themselves in other prestigious international events.

“The MOC is really proud of the excellent results of its athletes but we are looking forward to enjoying further success in 2012.”

Glancing at the complete list of nominees for a gold, silver and bronze award, it’s not surprising to find the name of William Chetcuti.

In 2011, the double trap shooter obtained arguably his best ever result on the international scene as he won the gold medal at the Beijing World Cup shoot to secure a berth in the London 2012 Olympics.

Chetcuti aside, the list is dominated by the various medal winners for Team Malta during last June’s Games of the Small States of Europe in Liechtenstein where our country recorded its best ever result on foreign soil.

Diane Borg, winner of two gold medals and a silver in Liechtenstein, spearheads a strong contingent of 18 track and field athletes which also includes fellow GSSE gold medallists Rebecca Camilleri, Kevin Moore, Nicole Gatt, Francesca Xuereb, Charlene Attard and Celine Pace.

The men’s and women’s squash selections, who made a clean sweep of the four gold medals at stake at this year’s GSSE, are also in contention.

Away from the GSSE scene, pool player Clayton Attard richly deserves his inclusion in the list of nominees after being crowned European champion in 2011.

Also on the list are the crew of Maltese boat Artie, winners of the 2011 Rolex Middle Sea Race, bowler Neil Sullivan, winner of a silver medal at the Commonwealth Championships, and weightlifter Rodmar Pulis who claimed a silver and bronze medal at the recently-held Commonwealth Championships in South Africa.

For his part, MOC president Lino Farrugia Sacco said that the MOC has further enhanced the prestige of Wednesday night’s presentation ceremony by luring to Malta three great Olympians.

“I’m delighted to announce that, thanks to the assistance of the Italian Olympic Committee, we have succeeded in bringing over three great champions of Italian sport for this year’s MOC awards,” the MOC head said.

“Pietro Mennea, a 200m gold medallist in the 1980 Moscow Olympics, gymnast Yuri Chechi, who won gold in the 1996 Games in Atlanta and rower Antonio Rossi, a three-time Olympic champion, have accepted our invitation and will be with us for the awards’ ceremony... we are really pleased to have them as our guests.”

Mr Justice Farrugia Sacco confirmed that this year’s awards will again see a number of former athletes and/or officials inducted into the MOC Hall of Fame.

Robert Arrigo, the chancellor of the MOC Hall of Fame, and Norman Hamilton, were also present for yesterday’s news conference.

The nominees

Athletics: D. Borg, R. Camilleri, L. Bezzina, A. Pace, N. Gatt, K. Moore, R. Chouhal, O. Camilleri, M. Xuereb, C. Attard, C. Pace, F. Xuereb, K. Farrugia, A. Grech, J. D’Alfonso, N. Brimmer, C. Chetcuti, N. Farrugia.
Bodybuilding: R. Decelis, B. Coppola.
Canoeing: C. Camilleri, N. Borg Costanzi, M. Schembri, D. Vassallo, A. Gambina.
Equestrian: M. Dalli, C. Schmid, T. Xuereb, C. Borg.
Gymnastics: K. Caruana, A. Zammit, T. Dalli.
Horse racing: M. Sultana.
Judo: M. Bezzina, J. Saywell, J. Camilleri, B. Law.
Open water swimming: K. Bartolo.
Pool: C. Attard, M. Mallia, M. Zammit, T. Grixti.
Rowing: T. Cremona.
Sailing: Artie crew, Otra Vez crew.
Shooting: W. Chetcuti, N. Xuereb.
Squash: D. Desira, T. Brousson, A. Olivieri Munroe, C. Sultana, J. Rizzo, B. Hindle Deguara, J. Desira, D. Zammit Lewis, C. Camilleri, M. Lupi, N. Dunkerley.
Swimming: N. Muscat, T. Pace, M. Micallef, D. Mangion, A. Chetcuti, A. Micallef.
Table football: M. Cremona, D. Conti, S. Bartolo, M. Gauci.
Table tennis: J. Pace, L. Peng Fei, D. Bajada, S. Gerada.
Tennis: M. Axiaq, N. Camilleri, K. Cassar, E. Jetcheva.
Tenpin bowling: M. Spiteri, N. Sullivan, T. Carranante, S. Abela.
Triathlon: D. Bonello Spiteri, K. Galea, M. Zammit.
Weightlifting: R. Pulis.