The 16th edition of the Games for European Small States which are being held in Rejkjavik, Iceland, got under way yesterday.
William Vella won Malta its first medal in the Iceland Small Nations Games today when he took bronze in the Air Rifle competition in Reykjavik.
Vella (photo) achieved a score 174.2 to finish third just ahead of teammate Gianluca Azzopardi Spiteri.
Lichtenstein's Mark Kessler took gold with a score of 198.8, beating team-mate Michael Matten into second place. He scored 197.9.
Michael Umnov won Malta’s second bronze medal, by placing third in the men’s 200m butterfly.
Also in swimming, Andrew Chetcuti won Malta its first silver medal, by placing second in 100m freestyle.
In athletics, Rebecca Camilleri won Malta another silver medal by placing first in the long jump competition.
Finally, Malta won its first gold medal when athlete Charlotte Wingfield placed first in the 100 metres competition. Her timing was 11.71 seconds. The England-based sprinter took the track and field scene by storm at the National Championships last month as she established herself as the new Malta champion in the 100m after setting a national record of 11.73secs.
Meanwhile, no medals were won in tennis, yet two Maltese tennis players made it to the women’s doubles final. The duo made up of Elaine Genovese and Katrina Sammut beat the Icelandic duo 6-4, 6-0 in the semifinal yesterday. They will now face Luxembourg in the final.
In singles, there was a good start for Katrina Sammut who beat the Icelandic contestant 6-2, 6-3, and thus made it through to the quarter finals, where she will now face the contestant from Montenegro. The other Maltese contestant Elaine Genovese will face the contestant from Luxembourg in the quarter finals.
The games will continue today with events as listed below.
Nine nations are taking part, that is, Andorra, Cyprus, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Malta, Monaco, Montenegro and San Marino.
Malta is taking part in athletics, basketball, beach volleyball, golf, gymnastics, judo, shooting, swimming, table-tennis and tennis.
Around 706 athletes from the nine countries are taking part in this edition in which there will be 200 events.