by Day 3 captured more medals for Team Malta (3G, 2S, 2B) as well as in statement debuts in Rugby 7s, where both men’s and women’s teams completed shutouts, while the women’s team ended the day undefeated.
Shooting
Malta’s Eleanor Bezzina captured gold in the Pistol 10m Air category, closely followed by Pierre-Forest Magali of Monaco, and compatriot Carine Ornella. Malta had no competitors in the men’s finals, where gold went to Boris Jeremenko of Monaco, followed by Iceland’s Ivar Ragnarsson and Cypriot Savvas Evangelou.
In the women’s Trap final, Luxembourg’s Lena Bidoli took first place, ahead of San Marino’s Alessandra Perilli and Cypriot Madina Kuchkarova. Meanwhile, in the men’s category, Malta’s James Galea narrowly missed out on the podium, beaten by Nihat Akterzi (Cyprus) who got bronze. San Marino’s Gian Marco Berti and Alfio Tomassoni claimed gold and silver, respectively.
Swimming
Over at Tal-Qroqq, Malta’s Sasha Gatt and Dylan Cachia captured bronzes in the 400 m freestyle. In the women’s category, San Marino’s Arianna Valloni captured silver by just 0.15 milliseconds on Gatt, while Iceland’s Snaefridur Jorunnardottir cleared her opponents by almost four seconds for the gold. Meanwhile, in the men’s first place went to Loris Bianci (San Marino), while Pit Brandenburger captured second for Luxembourg.
Malta’s Victoria Balderacchi narrowly missed out on bronze in the 100 m backstroke, outpaced by Sarah Rolko (Luxembourg), Ylfa Krsitamnnsdottir (Iceland) and Giulia Viacava (Monco), who got bronze, silver and gold respectively. There were also no medals for Malta in the Men’s category.
Cyprus captured gold in the women’s and men’s 100m butterfly through Anna Hadjiloizou and Loukas Marinos respectively. Malta’s Nirvana Micallef narrowly missed out on a podium by 0.2 milliseconds.
There was more joy in the 200 m breaststroke, as Malta’s Georgia Kate Bohl claimed silver, with Cypriot Maria Erokhina claiming gold by just over 0.25 milliseconds. The men’s final was claimed by Anton McKee of Iceland.
In the 4x200m relay, Malta’s women’s team captured another silver medal, beaten by Iceland who claimed gold, but ahead of Luxembourg who settle for bronze. The men’s category, saw Luxembourg edge out Cyprus and Iceland, with Malta placing fourth.
Table Tennis
Malta claimed two gold medals in table tennis. Camella Iacob completed her victory in five sets 3-2, to capture Malta’s medal in the women’s teams’ event, alongside Anthea Cutajar, Renata Strbikova and Viktoria Lucenkova. It was followed by Dimitrij Prokopcov who finished off the gold medal for the men’s team composed of Prokopcov, Daniel Bajada, Gabriel Grixti and Felix Wetzel.
Rugby 7s
The women’s team made a statement debut, shutting out both Montenegro (31-0) and Cyprus (26-0) in their opening and closing matches of the day. Andorra proved a tough competitor in the afternoon, but the Maltese prevailed 19-15 to complete the day undefeated. Their success confirms their place in the final on Friday.
The men’s team also debuted with a victory over Andorra (19-10). Though they fell to Luxembourg in the afternoon, they made amends with a shutout against Cyprus (38-0). They will play two more group phase fixtures on Friday against Monaco and San Marino.
Basketball
The debut in 3×3 brought agony to the women’s team as they suffered three defeats, two of which were by the closest of margins against Cyprus (15-14) and Andorra (21-18). Luxembourg cruised to a 21-8 victory over the hosts. The men’s team did not fare much better, also losing by a similar margin against Luxembourg, while losing tight encounters with Andorra and Cyprus.
In the 5×5, the women’s team fell to defeat against Montenegro (59-42) but the men’s team emerged victorious, defeating the side by 78-66.
Squash & Tennis
In squash, attention shifted to the round-robin team events, where Malta registered shutouts against Monaco and Iceland in the opening round. Tomorrow will culminate with the final expected to be kicked off early on.
There were also plenty of positive results in tennis matches, as Elaine Genovese, Francesca Curmi and Mateja Pecotic progressed to the semi-finals in the singles’ competitions. Pecotic also teamed up with Matthew Asciak to land a place in the Men’s Doubles final, to be held on Friday.
Upcoming Events on Day 4
Thursday promises another medal frenzy since it marks the return of Athletic events and Judo. Medals are also at stake in squash, swimming and table tennis.
Basketball 3×3 finals will be held, while there will be also progression in group phases of the 5×5. Tennis semi-finals will be held for the men’s and women’s singles as well as the women’s doubles competitions.
Photo: Laura Cunningham
