Alex Bezzina, team manager, and former medal winner for Malta in earlier Games, said Malta was beginning a new cycle.

He said: "We have an almost completely new team. Four of our six judokas are new. It is the first real big experience for them in the international field. They are still very young. We do not expect them to be successful at such a tender age, but this will serve them in good stead. They will gain a lot of experience and we are hopeful that they will form a sound basis for Malta's squad in future."

Bezzina added that it was only after the draws - they had to be made yesterday afternoon - that they would know what their chances of progress were. "Everything depends on the draw. Marcon Bezzina, our gold medal winner in Andorra, will be competing in the 63kg category, and not in the 57kg one. She has trained for this new category and she is very hopeful of doing well," he said.

Bezzina confirmed it is the first time that the judo competition is being spread over more than one day. "On Tuesday there will be the start of the individual events which will be concluded on Thursday. The team competition is scheduled for Friday.

This is mainly because there is only one tatami available.