The Maltese weightlifting team, consisting of Matthew Muscat Inglott, Jovan Reljic, Rodmar Pulis and Nicole Gatt, are back from Brindisi, Italy, where they took part in the 2013 Mediterranean Cup.

Reljic was the first Maltese lifter in action. He was successful in all three attempts in the Snatch lift as well as all three in Clean and Jerk, scoring a personal best total of 209kg.

Next up was Muscat Inglott.

After a somewhat unconvincing start, when he missed his first attempt at the Snatch, he regrouped and got all three “white lights” from the referees on his second attempt.

In Clean and Jerk, Muscat Inglott was successful with a solid 110kg, gaining a total of 203kg, a valiant effort.

In the women’s section, Gatt, weighing in at 51kg, had a solid start with two Snatch attempts, narrowly missing her third.

In Clean and Jerk, she succeeded in her third attempt and scored a total of 107kg.

Pulis rounded up Malta’s participation in Brindisi.

Early jitters caused him to miss his opening Snatch attempt of 95kg. However, the 18-year-old fought back and succeeded in both his next two Snatch attempts, including the third and final 100kg, breaking the Maltese junior national record by two kilogrammes.

Pulis ended the competition with a solid 130kg attempt in Clean and Jerk, shattering yet another national record in this particular lift and total.

The Maltese team was classified seventh among 12 nations where points gained by each lifter are combined to determine the final classification.

The Maltese lifters totalled 961 points between them, just five behind sixth-placed Bosnia.

Stephen Borg, a former athlete and coach, was also in Brindisi last week as a referee.

This was Borg’s first experience in the officiating team at an international competition of this calibre.

Caruana election

Prior to the Mediterranean Cup, Malta Weightlifting Association president Jesmond Caruana attended a general assembly where elections were held.

He was elected to the executive board of the organisation by delegates of the 19 countries who were present at the congress.

Caruana was also presented with a medal and a Certificate of Merit from the European Weightlifting Federation in recognition of his contribution to the sport.