During the past two months, Maltese sport was regaled with two great successes by local sportsmen. I am referring, of course, to Alex Borg and William Chetcuti.

The former made himself and the whole of Malta proud by winning the European individual championship in Poland, while Chetcuti confirmed his great potential with a silver medal in the World Cup event in Belgrade.

These were two great results for Maltese sport in a year during which Maltese athletes also produced outstanding performances and results in the Games for European Small States in Andorra.

Quite rightly, when Chetcuti won the gold medal for a second consecutive time at the Andorra Games – he had also won the event in Malta in 2003 – the Malta Olympic Committee (MOC) showered a lot of praise on the young shooter, who has certainly laid a strong claim to become Malta’s ever top sportsman considering that he is still 20 years old and is already achieving so much success at the very top.

Since his victory in Malta in 2003, I have been very much in favour of the MOC providing the required funds and making them available to the Shooting Federation in order to give the Manikata youngster the best preparation possible for his future commitments.

That, of course, included his participation in several tournaments abroad, including the Olympics, the Mediterranean Games and World Cup events which are held regularly every year.

I must also commend the Government, which, through the Maltese Council for Sport, has employed Chetcuti within its ranks, also providing him with more than enough time for practice purposes.

This is not enough, however, as the youngster will now also need more time off to be able to take part in those world tournaments where he needs to build up a reputation and where he can fight it out with the best elements on offer at present in the whole world.

Chetcuti needs all the support he can get if we are to continue entertaining hopes of ever having a local athlete winning a medal at an Olympic Games. He is definitely our best prospect in this sense and his result in the Athens Games last year – his first ever participation at the Olympics – not to mention the very prestigious silver medal in Belgrade, is enough proof that the MOC is thinking about Chetcuti in the right direction.

That is why I also must commend the MOC for deciding to put Chetcuti in the Outstanding Athlete Scheme. This is a new scheme whereby athletes can only be included if they continuously win medals or place in the top ranks at Olympic Games, Mediterranean and Commonwealth Games, Games for European Small Nations, world and European Championships.

That is, of course, in line with the recently adopted policy of the MOC, through which they (the MOC) declared that now the time is ripe for it to become more selective in choosing their athletes for participation in certain events abroad.

As for Alex Borg, I think he should also qualify for some financial help from the MOC and the Maltese Council for Sport, even, if not in the same levels, simply because snooker is not an Olympic sport.

Of course, the Malta Billiards and Snooker Association also feels that it is producing – as, after all, it has always done – fantastic results, not only at individual, but also at national team level.

This year, for example, apart from seeing Alex Borg winning the European Championship, we also had the Malta team winning the Mediterranean Cup.

Although admittedly not an Olympic sport, snooker has always been in the forefront in so far as sporting success is concerned.

In the past we have also had two world champions in the form of Paul Mifsud and Guzi Grech, and although they won their titles in the amateur world, everyone must be aware that those they beat at that level, eventually turned professional and were also successful later in their career.

It is only fair to say that even the MBSA and its players deserve to be given some more financial support from both the MOC and the Maltese Council for Sport. I am sure that the association can utilise such funds in the best possible manner to continue acquiring positive results for itself, its member players and in the name of the country.

It is also only fair to say that Malta has proved itself successful in the individual field once again, despite its tiny size.