The 17th Mediterranean Darts Cup, in Poissy, France, came to a close last weekend with Team Malta returning home with three medals – two silver and a bronze.
The squad was composed of Norbert Attard, David Attard, Godfrey Abela and John Agius.
They opened their commitments in the tournament for teams.
In the inaugural group match, Malta suffered a 9-7 defeat to Romania but they fought back, defeating Greece (9-6) and Cyprus (9-4) in the remaining group matches to qualify for the knock-out stage.
Day two featured matches from the singles and pairs competition with Agius reaching the semi-final stage, defeating E. Pantelidis (Greece) 4-0, R. Negot (Romania) 4-1 and D. Carrasco (Catalonia) 4-3 along the way.
Norbert Attard and David Attard were eliminated at the last 16 stage of the tournament and Godfrey Abela was beaten in the previous round.
In the pairs event, Team Malta failed to make steady progress.
Day three can only be described as a roller coaster ride for the Maltese players.
Agius produced another brilliant effort as he defeated A. Frim, of Romania, 4-1 in the singles to reach the final.
Team Malta then produced their best performance in Poissy when they faced hosts France in the semi-finals.
In a first to nine legs match, the Maltese were lagging 8-4 behind but a spirited comeback saw them recover composure and win the remaining five legs to claim a 9-8 victory and a berth in the final.
Agius was up against Frenchman Jacques Labre in the singles gold medal match.
Leading 3-1 in a first to four leg contest, Agius could not get over the winning line with Labre claiming the prestigious title following a 4-3 victory.
The last fixture in programme was the team event final with Malta facing off against Romania for the second time in this competition.
Unfortunately, this time they finished at the wrong end of the final scoreline as Romania came from behind to win 9-7 despite trailing 7-4 at one stage.
“There is a tinge of disappointment after our players lost two finals from a winning position,” Andre Zammit, the Malta Darts Association PRO, said.
“But, overall, it was another satisfactory participation for our national team abroad also considering that two of our players, John Agius and David Attard, were making their debut at this level of the sport.”
Results
Men overall: 1. France 58 points; 2. Romania 46; 3. Malta 38; 4. Turkey 26; 5. Catalonia 20; 6. Gibraltar 18; 7. Cyprus 14; 8. Greece 12.
Men’s team: 1. Romania; 2. Malta; 3. France, Catalonia.
Men’s singles: 1. J. Labre (France); 2. J. Agius (Malta); 3. A. Frim (Romania), K. Pantelidis (Greece).
Men’s pairs: 1. France; 2. Gibraltar; 3. Turkey, Romania.
Women overall: 1. Catalonia, Greece ‘A’ 18; 3. Turkey ‘A’ 14; 4. France ‘A’ 12; 5. Turkey ‘B’, France ‘B’ 6; 7. Greece ‘B’ 4; 8. Romania 0.