The third edition of the Friendship games came to an end yesterday with Siciliy claiming the final victory over Malta for the first time.
The games came to an end with the closing ceremony, and the usual final speeches by the President of the CONI Trapani section Salvatore Castelli, and the MOC President Lino Farrugia Sacco.
In an end of the games press conference held at Marsala by the MOC, President Lino Farrugia Saco said that the main goal of these games was reached, that is the friendship and good relations between the Maltese and Sicilian federations were enhanced during this three day event.
Farrugia Sacco said that the games proved useful to seven local federations who had their first experience in these games. He said that there were positive and negative aspects, with one of the positive aspects being the solidifications of relations of these seven new federations.
He said that the results are difficult to assess especially when seven new disciplines were involved as no real comparison can be made. However some good results were obtained from the Triathlon with first and second place in the women’s event, pool, bowling, table football, and Taekwando with the promising Kimberly Cassar.
Other federations had their difficulties, especially the equestrian, where the horses provided for the Maltese athletes were definitely not to standard.
Lino Farugia Sacco went on to say that it is high time that the MOC has a say in the selection of the athletes in these games. He remarked that some federations were not represented by their best elements. He said that although many youngsters had a positive display and gained much needed experience, however the selection process should be revised.
Lino Farrugia concluded by saying that the future of these games is certain. There are still discussions with the Sicilian counterparts whether to open up for other Mediterranean federations, but this has to be done at a price, like decreasing the disciplines present, or the frequency of these games from yearly to say every two-three years. He said that next year the games will be held on this setup and will be held in Malta probably at the end of April, beginning of May.
Indoor shooting
William Vella places third
William Vella placed third in the indoor shooting competition which was held late Saturday at Marsala as part of the Third edition of The Mediterranean Friendship Games.
In the rifle competition from 60 metres, William Vella hit 97, 93, 95, 95, 94, and 97 for a total of 571. The competition was won by Giovanni Matraxia who totaled 585 after his six rounds of shots, scoring a 100 in the fifth round.
Salvatore Catalano of Sicila Team placed second with a total of 573. The other Maltse shooters, Charlo Chircop and Laurence Darmanin placed fifth and sixth respectively.
Charlo Chircop scored 88, 87, 94, 95, 91, and 92 for a total of 547, with Laurence Darmanin scoring 82, 89, 90, 93, 91, and 93 for a final score of 538.
Ten Pin Bowling
Kenneth Arpa obtains highest national score
The ten Pin Bowling competition was rather chaotic to say the least, with both Malta and Sicilia claiming victory. In the end the Sicilians had it there way and took the points from this discipline, by only winning the individual event, but it seems that both Bowling federations had different interpretations of the rules.
Kenneth Arpa obtained his personal best and the highest national record with a total of 1519 points. Mark Spiteri also obtained his personal best with a total of 1380, whilst Justin Scicluna Caruana obtained a total of 1199.
Malta’s total amounted to 4098, with Sicily totaling 3928.