The Malta Weightlifting Association recently hosted their first competition of the year with a good number of lifters partici-pating and representing seven different clubs at the Cottonera Sports Complex.

The first event, for youths under-17, bore positive results for Matthew Grech. He totalled 116kgs for 179 points.

Steady progress over the previous year was also made by Kirsten Scerri, achieving a total of 90kg to increase 11 points from her own tally of 2013.

Owen Bugeja also had an encouraging performance, breaking seven national records in the 94+ weight category following a 162kg lift.

The next category in contest was reserved for women lifters.

Amy Guiga cleared a total of 43kg, progressing over her per-sonal best by 17 points.

However, the most impressive result in this category was that of Ivana Micallef.

In fact, she shattered the national record in the 75+ weight category with 104kgs lifted.

Competition for men was tight but in the end Noel Colerio’s 235kg total was the best on the day. Jovan Reljic trailed in second place, 220kg, with Kyle Micallef third on 210kg.

A selection process is now underway for those lifters who will represent the country at the upcoming international competitions, including the Mediterranean Cup, in Tunisia, and the European Small Nations Tournament in San Marino.