The third ranking meeting of the year, in connection with the Malta Weightlifting Association championship, was held at the Cottonera Sports Complex, last weekend.
This competition was of particular importance as it served, in part, as preparation for upcoming international meets.
Besides, it was also an opportunity for most of the lifters to see where their levels are at this stage of the season following an intensive training programme conducted mostly in summer.
On the day, a spate of national records were again established with the association confirming the sport is on the right track also thanks to a series of personal best lifts in various categories.
The meeting opened with a great display by cadets Rylee Borg and Kyle Camilleri.
Borg topped the results’ sheet with 135 points as Camilleri followed with 128. Jamie Bartolo was third in the competition with 78 points.
The event for youth boys did not disappoint either as Kieran Mifsud and Owen Bugeja got engaged in a tight tussle for the best lift.
In the end, Mifsud managed a total of 226kgs and Bugeja 220kgs. Andy Grech had a 163kg lift.
Excellent lifts were also registered in the section for youth and junior girls.
Here, Shazel Gusman won the youths’ section with a total of 105kgs that yielded her 132 points and a new clean and jerk Malta record.
Young Shelby Vassallo lifted 91kgs as Rebecca Fitz placed first in the juniors category with a total of 104kgs – a new national mark. Rebecca Scerri lifted 75kgs.
The women’s open honours went to Yazmin Zammit Stevens as she had the better of Elisia Scicluna after a very close finish for totals. Zammit managed 145kgs to the 142kgs of Scicluna.
Zammit finished first with 188 points followed by Kristen Borg, 166, and Scicluna, 164.
The meeting reached a peak with the competition for men seniors where Kyle Micallef was making his first showing following his participation at the Olympic Games in Rio in summer.
Micallef was at his best, producing a 272kgs total which is a new personal best. Matthew Camilleri was the runner-up with 235kgs, another personal best score.
Vlad Baldacchino did very well in the snatch part of the competition but experienced problems with his first two attempts in clean and jerk. That left him with added pressure on his shoulders in his third attempt.
However, after a few corrections, Baldacchino succeeded in securing the lift and a total 233kgs.
Eric Saliba finished just behind with 222kgs followed by Charles Degiorgio 198kgs and Yannick Pace 193kgs.
This weekend, Micallef, Camilleri and Zammit Stevens will represent Malta at an international meeting in Serbia. They will be accompanied by association president Jesmond Caruana.