Maltese Olympic Committee president Mr Justice Lino Farrugia Sacco described Malta's participation at the Sicilian tournament at the weekend as another success for Maltese sport.

Addressing a news conference yesterday, he said the athletes who represented Malta had done well with a final tally of 12 gold, four silver and one bronze medal.

However, he made an emphasis on the fact that medal winning in such a tournament was not important. “It is the useful experience gained by such athletes that was important for us. These associations, most of which form part of the non-Olympic sport sector, rarely have the opportunity to be part of Team Malta. This proved to be the right occasion for them to be united and I was delighted with the way they supported each other during the two-day event,” he said.

Farrugia Sacco said that they were all well prepared for the event. “It was a success which follows that of the Small Nations Games. It is all the fruit of the work done by us, the government, the athletes, the coaches and everyone connected with sport. By now, we are certain that we no longer are there just to take part. We know we can compete. Surprisingly enough we did well not only with our top athletes in some of the events, but also by others smaller in their ranking.

“These athletes deserve our praise. They confirmed that our sport had improved, had become more serious, professional and that we have more athletes who are dedicated to their sporting ideals,” he added.

Again he referred to the next tournament which will be held in Malta. “It will be the MOC's 80th anniversary next year and the event will be one of the activities to mark this anniversary. We will have discussions with the Ministries involved as well as the Maltese Council for Sport and the various Federations. Whether it will be a two-nation tournament or will have more nations taking part, it is not yet known. The biggest stumbling block is that both Tunisia and Libya cannot take part in all the 10 disciplines as some of them are not yet practised in those two countries.”

He also said that despite being contested by just two nations, the tournament proved to be useful as, among the Sicilians, in some cases, there were some top performers, especially in fencing, triathlon, dance sport and badminton.

Earlier, MOC secretary general Joe Cassar said the tournament had strengthened the bond of friendship between Sicily and Malta, especially in the sporting field. “These associations were given the opportunity to meet their counterparts from Sicily. They have made new contacts which will be beneficial in the long term,” he said.

Overall, in badminton, Malta obtained second place in the team event and in the Mixed Doubles through Joanne Cassar, Catherine Dimech, Kenneth Vella and David Cole.

In dancesport, there were two first places in the Standard senior and Latin American Adult, through Kurt Spiteri, Brenda Jane Camilleri, Joseph Bartolo and Marianne Bartolo.

In fencing, Malta obtained two first places in the Foil and Epee team events thanks to Marie Jo Scicluna, Susan Ronald, Norman Martinez and Pierre Bianchi.

In Golf, there was also a first for Pierre Satariano and Nicholas Borg.

In karate, there were three first places in the kata individual, kumite individual and kumite team. The athletes were Christopher Rotin, Jesmond Abdilla, Joseph Galea, Steven Bugeja and Jason Edwards.

In pool, there was another first place thanks to Clint Azzopardi and Clayton Attard. They won 16-11.

In Snooker Mario Brincat and Simon Camilleri also obtained first place as they beat the Sicilians 8-0.

Another first place arrived in table-football through Samuel Bartolo and Derek Conti. The Maltese pair won 4-0.

The Triathlon team obtained one first place, two seconds and a third. Their athletes were Donatelle Callus, Danica Spiteri, Brian Magri, Keith Galea. The first place was obtained in the team event.

In the weightlifting event, Christian Saliba and Emanuel Schembri managed a personal best each, the former lifting 134kg in the youth category and Schembri 244kg in the senior category. The other participants were Gordon Cachia and Noel Coleiro.