On Saturday morning the semifinalists of the SportMalta Awards were presented with a commemorative certificate during a ceremony held at Fort St Angelo Vittoriosa. Present was the Parliamentary Secretary for Youth, Sport and Voluntary Organisations Dr Clifton Grima as well as the Organising Committee composed of members from the Malta Sports Journalists Association and SportMalta and which is chaired by SportMalta's CEO Mark Cutajar.
During this ceremony the finalists of seven categories were announced. These categories will be receiving votes by a jury made up of journalists during the award winning ceremony to be held at The Malta Hilton on Saturday 23rd February and which will be transmitted live on TVM2 starting at 7:30 pm
Apart from these seven categories during the ceremony there will be five more presentations including the People's Choice Award for which the five finalists were also announced this morning. The general public can now cast their votes on the facebook page BeActive-SportMalta. The public's votes will be added to the votes cast by the Associations and those of the jury so that during the awards' ceremony we will find out the winner of this category.
There are five finalists in each category apart from the Sportswoman of the Year award which has six finalists as two athletes finished in 5th place with the same number of votes. Each contestant will be judged on honours gained during 2018 with special emphasis on international achievements.
SPORTSMAN OF THE YEAR
BEZZINA Isaac - Judo
CARUANA SCICLUNA Justin - Ten Pin Bowling
FARRUGIA Stefan - Raffa
GALEA Brian - Shooting Trap
GATT Rodney - Harness Racing
SPORTSWOMAN OF THE YEAR
BEZZINA Eleanor - Air Pistol
PACE Hannah - Triathlon
SULTANA Colette - Squash
WINGFIELD Charlotte - Athletics
XUEREB Sara - Ten Pin Bowling
ZAMMIT STEVENS Yazmin - Weightlifting
OFFICIAL OF THE YEAR
AQUILINA Stephen - Malta Shooting Sport Federation
BUGEJA Frans - Malta Billiards & Snooker Association
CALLEJA Anna - Special Olympics
DEGIORGIO Vincent - Malta Pool Association
VASSALLO Bernard - Malta Basketball Association
COACH OF THE YEAR
CARUANA Jesmond - Weightlifting
DAMIAN Neil - Rugby
IZZO Karl - Waterpolo
MUSCAT Winston - Football
PACCARIE Andrea - Basketball
MALE YOUTH OF THE YEAR
BALZAN Jurgen - Table Football
ELAIDA Jacob - Athletics
MUSCAT Jake - Waterpolo
SULTANA Kijan - Squash
VASSALLO Saul - Sailing
FEMALE YOUTH OF THE YEAR
BORG Ella - Gymnastics
CURMI Francesca - Tennis
FALZON YOUNG Francesca - Swimming
MANGION VASSALLO Shelby - Weightlifting
XUEREB Sara - Ten Pin Bowling
TEAM OF THE YEAR
Basketball National Team Men
Football National Team Men U19
Lawn Bowls National Team Women
Rugby National Team Men
Waterpolo National Team Men
PEOPLE'S CHOICE AWARD
GALEA Brian - Shooting Trap
PORTELLI Robert - Rugby
SPITERI Fabio - Triathlon
XUEREB Rebecca - Gymnastics
ZAMMIT STEVENS Yazmin - Weightlifting