Waterpolo was the leading sport at the 2015 Sport Malta Awards Għazliet Sportivi Nazzjonali as the Aquatic Sport Association scooped no fewer than four major awards at a presentations night that was staged at the Mediterranean Conference Centre, yesterday.

Steve Camilleri, whose goals propelled the waterpolo national team into the European Championship finals and an eventual 15th place overall, was named Sportsman of the Year.

Karl Izzo, the man who led the side in Belgrade this winter, retained the best coach title for a third year running and San Ġiljan prodigy Ben Plumpton, also Malta U-17 skipper, was voted youth of the year.

The waterpolo national team’s exploits on the international scene did not go unnoticed with the voting panel as they topped the Team of the Year category for a second year in succession.

Track and field sprinter Charlotte Wingfield broke the dominance of the waterpolo nominations at the contest when she was voted Sportswoman of the Year in her first attempt.

Wingfield ended bowling ace Sue Abela’s hopes of a third successive title and fifth overall.

The Wales-based sprinter enjoyed an outstanding debut in Maltese colours after completing a sprint double at the 2015 GSSE in the 100m and 200 metres events.

Last year, Wingfield also placed ninth overall in the 100 metres at the U-23 European Championships.

Wingfield collected 93 votes as Abela settled for second (62 votes) ahead of track and field jumper Rebecca Camilleri (40 votes).

Steve Camilleri was an inspirational figure for the national team in the European Championship qualifiers and finals.

Yesterday, he topped the Sportsman of the Year contest with a massive 96 votes to finish ahead of track and field sprinter Kevin Moore (64 votes) and bowler Mark Spiteri (35 votes).

Izzo made it a hat-trick of best coach awards after winning his category with a maximum result of 105 votes, yesterday.

He shows great commitment and is a real motivator to his players. Besides leading the national team to the finals in the European Championships, Izzo also succeeded in seeing the U-17 Maltese team obtaining an historic qualification to the European Games in Baku last summer.

Malta U-21 football coach Silvio Vella placed second (70 votes) behind Izzo while bowling mentor Richard Vogelesang (33 votes) was third.

The waterpolo national selection were overwhelming favourites to retain the Team of the Year award for a second successive year and they lived up to their billing with a full 105 votes from the panel of experts which included sports editors and journalists representing the main media houses on the islands.

The bowling selection, composed of Abela, Mauro Anastasi, Tiziana Carannante and Spiteri, placed second ahead of the snooker team (Tony Drago and Brian Cini).

The swim sport fraternity almost made it an en-plein last night but Aquatic Sport Association of Malta president Joe Caruana Curran (76 votes) was beaten to the Official of the Year award by football referee Clayton Pisani (91 votes).

That partial setback for the ASA was alleviated by San Ġiljan ASC and national team left-hander Matthew Zammit.

Zammit got the People’s Choice award with 28 per cent of the vote.

Bowler Sara Xuereb (87 votes) and Plumpton (74 votes) topped the respective categories for best youth athletes.

Xuereb, winner of the Youth Championships in the UK, retained the award she won last year.

Plumpton had an outstanding season on the domestic scene and also skippered the U-17 national team at the European Games which were played in Baku in 2015.

For the second time running, wrestler Gary Giordimaina had to settle for the runner-up spot, this time finishing just five points be-hind Plumpton in a tight contest.

Among the distinguished guests at the Mediterranean Conference Centre last night was former Italian footballer Simone Farina.

The 33-year-old, now a scout for English Premier League club Aston Villa, rose to prominence five years ago when he turned down an offer to throw a match and reported the case to the police.

Award winners

Sportsman of the Year: Steve Camilleri.
Sportswoman of the Year: Charlotte Wingfield.
Team of the Year: Waterpolo national team.
Best coach: Karl Izzo.
Official of the Year: Clayton Pisani.
Young sportsman: Ben Plumpton.
Young sportswoman: Sarah Xuereb.
Special Olympics: Shanaia Xuereb, Warren Schembri.
People’s Choice voting: Matthew Zammit.

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