The results of the 2012 SportMalta Awards during the presentation evening hosted by the Kunsill Malta għall-Isport in conjunction with the Għaqda Ġurnalisti Sport last Saturday came as no surprise.
The 28-year-old Double Trap shooter, William Chetcuti, topped the Sportsman of the Year bill for the second year running after finishing ninth at the London Olympics. This was a staggering ninth award in all for him.
Sprinter Diane Borg also made it two in a row in the women’s category on the strength of her qualification for the first round proper of the Olympic Games 100 metres race, the first time a Maltese track and field competitor managed to do so.
These individual awards confirmed that the big global events such as the Olympic Games or World Championships are the highest platforms where our athletes can shine in these national sporting contests.
Next come the European Championships and here motor sport, as represented by the drag racing discipline, came out tops in the Team of the Year section after Mr Whippy scooped the 2012 Top Methanol title at the FIA European Championships.
Manty Bugeja finished a close runner-up in the individual sportsman classification but then won the equally prestigious SportMalta Award.
These are deserved successes which rewarded Chetcuti, Borg and Bugeja for their fine performances.
Chetcuti also made his mark when finishing second in a World Cup series last year and Borg for her continued improvement in a high-profile sport such as athletics, with Bugeja playing a leading role in the FIA championship.
The failure of Chetcuti to make a potentially reachable final in London did not prevent him from earning the highest number of votes in the Sportsman of the Year contest.
The same could be said for Borg. Representing one’s country with credit on the top international stage tilted the balance in their favour.
Shooting, with four nominees in the finals, claimed a second award when the promising Nathan Lee Xuereb won the U-17 category, while Jimmy Bugeja was second in the officials’ list where Damien Neill, the rugby coach, got the top accolade for steering the national team to higher levels in 2012 and a top-50 placing in the IRB list.
Danica Bonello Spiteri’s con-sistency and longevity in a high-grade sport such as triathlon earned her a creditable runner-up spot behind Borg, while weightlifting also got recognition through second-placed Nicole Gatt in the U-17s.
Praise must also go to athletes with special needs Philip Grup-petta and Matthew Sultana who were recognised for their feats.
Though not winning any honours, aquatic sport was well-represented in the latest edition of the Sportivi Nazzjonali contest as no fewer than eight nominees made it to the semi-final stage, with three, Steve Camilleri (water-polo), second in 2011, and swim-mers Julian Harding and Matthew Sultana earning a coveted berth in the finals.
The other five in the top ten were swimmers Andrew Chetcuti, Nicola Sammut, Amy Micallef and Michael Umnov, as well as national coach Andy Colbourn.
This was a very healthy total from about 50 initial nominations, a percentage which reflects the efforts and progress made by these two aquatic disciplines in recent years.