An encouraging number of weightlifters took part in the second seasonal competition organised by the Malta Weightlifting Association (MWA).

Participants hailed from four clubs, namely Noble Gym, Cottonera Sports Complex, MCAST Naxxar and Falcons.

A string of records were broken in the cadet category. In girls’ competition, Beatrix Galea secured first place with 74 points followed by Francesca Mercieca on 72 points.

Rylee Borg took the boys’ cadets title in emphatic fashion after amassing 82 points.

In the boys U-14, Emmersin Bugeja produced the best lift of 75kg followed by Malcolm Camilleri and Isaac Fava who managed 48kg and 46kg respectively.

Nicole Gatt was unrivalled in the girls’ section. Thanks to her impressive total of 93kg, she not only won the competition but also shattered no fewer than 10 national records.

Marilyn Grech was second with 82kg followed by Siobhan O’Sullivan.

In the male youths, Joran Farrugia bettered five national records in the 94kg category. First place in this section went to Thomas Farrugia, with a total of 133kg, followed by Hayden Farrugia on 128kg. Ryan Borg was third with 105kg.

The men’s category saw the success of Noel Coleiro who had a best total of 229kg.

Rodmar Pulis had to be content with the runner-up spot after lifting 210kg while third place was claimed by Jovan Reljic on 195kg.

Other positive results worthy of a note during the competition were those of Chris Schinas, who produced a lift of 140kg, and Mark Briffa who raised 125kg.

The competition was run by Jesmond Caruana while Ramona Borg, Gayle Caruana, Cleaven Cutajar, Stephen Borg and Andrea Caruana acted as technical officials.

This event was intended to boost preparations for the upcoming Malta Open and then the Small Nations Championships in Luxembourg at the end of next month.

Coleiro, Pulis, Matthew Muscat Inglott and Reljic have earned a spot in the Maltese team for the Small Nations Championships. They will be under the guidance of coach Stephen Borg.