On Sunday, March 18, the Malta Weightlifting Association (MWA) will be organising its second local competition of the year, at the Cottonera sport complex.

The event will start with a group of young newcomers at 9am, followed by the men group B at 9.45am, the women's final group at 11.30am and the men's final group at 1pm.

The national competition will be an important platform for all athletes who aspire to earn a call-up to be part of the national team for the upcoming international competitions throughout this year. 

Both the women's and men's event promise to be an exciting events between Malta's elite athletes, in particular in the men's group where experienced weightlifters such as Vlad Baldacchino, Rodmar Pulis and Matthew Camilleri have all been pushing their personal best lifts during their training.

Baldacchino is currently the male leading athlete and is also part of the team who will be representing our island at the European Small Nations Games in Iceland in a few weeks.

However, this is not the end goal for Baldacchino as he is aiming to qualify for the Mediterranean Games, set to take place this June in Tarragona, Spain. 

Another athlete aspiring to make it to the Mediterranean Games, Elisia Scicluna will also be competing this weekend, alongside Yazmin Zammit Stevens.

The meet will be the last appearance for Zammit Stevens before she heads to Australia for the Commonwealth Games of next month.