The archery national squad recently participated in a tournament for European small nations which was held in Luxembourg. The outcome was satisfying as the team clinched two medals and established a spate of new national records.
Intensive preparation for the tournament was initiated late last year and was implemented under the watchful eyes of national coach John Schembri.
Dr Raphael Patiniott accompanied the group as team captain, while international FITA judge John Collins was invited by the host federation to form part of the judging panel.
Six nations, namely, Luxembourg, San Marino, Liechtenstein, Cyprus, Monaco and Malta, took part with a total of 55 archers figuring in the various divisions.
The Archery Association of Malta was assisted by Air Malta, Malta International Airport, Malta Olympic Committee and the Sports Secretariat.
The qualifying round consisted of a double 70-metre round during which 36 arrows were shot. The total aggregate score was then used to rank each competitor ahead of the elimination rounds.
The qualifying round positions for the Maltese were: Ladies Olympic recurve - Maria Formosa fifth. Ladies Compound - Marianne Camilleri seventh. Men's Olympic recurve - Kevin Bonnici 14th, Adrian Muscat 16th, Joe Sultana 17th. Men's Compound - Joe Ellul Sullivan eighth, Philip Camilleri 10th, John Pace 12th, Tony Falzon 22nd, Dion Buhagiar 23rd.
Bonnici and Marianne Camilleri established new records for the individual double 70-metre round. Ellul Sullivan, Camilleri and Pace set a new team national record with a combined score of 1,937, also in the qualifying round.
The Maltese contested both the men's Olympic and Compound team events. The former ranked fourth in the qualifying round and then was beaten by Luxembourg who finished third. Notwithstanding this upset, Bonnici, Muscat and Sultana still set a new national mark.
In the Compound Division, the Maltese qualified fourth behind Liechtenstein. Ellul Sullivan, Pace, Camilleri and reserve Buhagiar eliminated their first round opponents Cyprus with a score of 245, again setting a new national mark.
Luxembourg were next to go out against Malta who forced a final shot-off for gold or silver with Liechtenstein. This proved to be a tense affair but the Maltese ran out of time and were unable to shoot their last arrow.
Liechtenstein won the contest 228-225.
Malta's Compound archers were among the 26-strong entry on Day Two but unluckily Buhagiar and Camilleri were paired together in the opening round.
Here, Pace set a new record with 172 from a possible 180. Falzon and Camilleri were both ousted as Buhagiar and Ellul Sullivan proceeded to the quarter-finals along with Pace.
Buhagiar then lost 159-163, Ellul Sullivan was narrowly beaten 158-157 but Pace ousted his Luxembourg opponent 169-166.
In the semi-finals Pace lost to a Liechtensteiner 101-104 and had to face a Cypriot rival for the third and fourth place. The Maltese archer kept his cool to win the decider 108-102 and earn a bronze medal.
The final ranking for the Maltese was: Pace third, Buhagiar 10th, Ellul Sullivan 11th, Camilleri 17th, Tony Falzon 19th.
In the Recurve Division Kevin Bonnici and Adrian Muscat were both eliminated in the quarter-finals.
Bonnici, however, still managed to set a new national record for this category.
In the women's Compound Division Marianne Camilleri was also eliminated early on.
Maria Formosa, in the Recurve elimination round, defeated one of the home archers but then just missed out on another bronze medal after losing the decisive play-off.
The fifth Archery Games will be held in Liechtenstein in 2004.