Team Malta Wins 5 Gold, 5 Silver And 6 Bronze Medals During First Day At GSSE
Team Malta won five gold, five silver and six bronze from the Games of the Small States of Europe (GSSE) which are currently being held in Andorra which started on 26th May and will come to an end on 31st May.
Jessica Vella triumphed in karate on Tuesday afternoon as she competed in the Women’s Kata class. She first bested Aileen Sprenger, from Lichtenstein with a score of 37.8 to 33.8 and went on to face Montenegro’s Mila Mrakovic in the final. She won the gold medal with a score of 39.1 to 37.8. Ibrahim Kalil Koska was forced to settle for bronze after he lost his semi-final against San Marino’s Emanuele Magnelli in the Karate Kumite discipline.
In the table tennis arena, team Malta secured a gold medal as Maria-Carmelia Iacob and Renata Strbikova won first place in women’s doubles as they bested Cyprus’ pair in the finals with a 3-0 score. In the semi-finals, Iacob and Strbikova upset gold medal favourites Luxembourg to set up a final showdown with Cyprus. The Maltese pair here were relentless as they cruised to a 3-0 to secure the gold medal.
“It was a very consistent performance from our girls,” coach Viktoria Luchenkova told the Times of Malta. “They had already beaten Cyprus in the group stages, but their performance of the day came in the semis when they beat strong favourites Luxembourg, who featured Sarah de Nutte, a former world championship bronze medallist in doubles. Their male counterparts, Dmitrij Prokopcov and Felix Wetzel had to settle with a bronze aas thy lost in the semi-final against Luxembourg’s pair with a score of 3-2.
Sasha Gatt won the first gold medal for swimming in her 800 metre freestyle. It was a close call between her and Lisa Pou from Monaco, in fact, it was only in the last few metres that Gatt managed to advance. Gatt won with a time of 8:49.74 and Pou’s time was of 8:50.26. This was the third gold medal that team Malta won in the first day of the competition.
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Nirvana Micallef followed suit as she took silver in the 200m butterfly swim, clocking her swim in 2:23.94. She is one of the best upcoming prospects in Maltese swimming and in this swim, she registered a personal best improving by 1.5 seconds.
Thea Parnis Coleiro clinched a bronze medal on her GSSE debut as she finished in third place in the 100-metre race with a time of 11.83 seconds. “Still can’t quite believe it… bronze in the 100m, and one of the youngest on the track.This moment means everything to me,” she wrote on social media. Claire Azzopardi who was also involved in the same race missed out on a medal with a finishing time of 12.27 seconds.
Beppe Grillo also competed in athletics during the men’s 100-metre race and placed third with a finishing time of 10.62 seconds. Jared Micallef also competed in athletics for the 800-metre race and claimed second place.
In the final event of the first day, Isaac Bonnici, Martha Spiteri, Jared Micallef and Janet Richard finished second in mixed relay with a time of 3:27.76 for the 4X400 metre race which is a new national record for Malta. In a different event, Jemima Farley made her GSSE debut and took home the silver medal in the 10k woman race after she finished second behind Andorra’s Martin.
Gina McNamara and Janet Richard both competed in the 800-metre race and they won gold and bronze respectively. McNamara produced a stunning late surge to successfully defend her gold medal during the race as she overtook both Cyprus’ Stavrini Filippou and fellow teammate Janet Richard, clocking a win at 2:10.01.
Team Malta also won the gold in the girls All Around Gymnastics scene. Big well done to Philippa Busuttil, Lyana Curmi Inguanez, Janet Galea, Julia Galea and Sophie St John who competed on vault, uneven bars, balance beam and floor exercise. Additionally, in the individual all-around event, Sophie St John won the silver medal and Philippa Busuttil completed the set with a bronze medal.
We wish all of Team Malta the very best of luck as they continue to represent our country during the GSSE!
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