The Malta Tenpin Bowling Association national team, the Waterpolo senior national team and Snooker’s Tony Drago and Brian Cini yesterday received the top MOC Award – the Platinum Category award – during the Awards ceremony at the Corinthia Hotel in Attard.
Drago and Cini reached the final of the European Team championships after defeating English pair Nick Jennings and Ryan Causton 4-1 in the semifinals.
However, the title went to Ireland’s Michael Judge and Robert Murphy as they defeated Drago and Cini 5-3 in the final.
The Tenpin Bowling Association’s team did very well at the 18th Mediterranean Championships, hosted by the Hellenic Bowling Federation in Chania, Crete. The results included Gold in the Mixed team event which was completed this morning.
That was not the only honour taken however, as Sue Abela was also awarded Gold in the Ladies All Events category, Mark Spiteri bowled a fantastic ‘perfect’ 300 game, while the team of four also smashed the tournament record for a highest game.
The national waterpolo team earned qualification for the European Championship finals next month in Belgrade after a mini tournament held in Malta.
Karl Izzo’s team finished second behind Germany. They made sure of the Europeans’ berth by beating Latvia, Switzerland and Poland.
A defeat against Group winners Germany still meant qualification as Malta finished second in the Group.
The other nominated athletes are the following in their respective categories:
SPECIAL
Malta Weightlifting Federation Kieran Mifsud Malta Football Association National Under 21 Team Coach – Silvio Vella Captain – Ryan Camenzuli Malta Pool Association Miguel Falzon Under 23 National Team Dylan Cassar, Ryan Pisani, Troy Zammit and Ryan Falzon
Malta Tenpin Bowling Association
Sara Xuereb – recognition awards youth
Matthew Magro – recognition awards youth Kurt Attard Edward Xuereb Youth Team Kurt Attard, Matthew Magro, Nicholas Zahra and Sara Xuereb Malta Squash Colette Sultana Kijan Sultana Malta Amateur Athletics Association Rachid Chouhal Badminton Malta Matthew Abela Nigel Degaetano Malta Sailing Federation Victoria Schulties Malta Tennis Federation Helene Pellicano Aquatic Sports Association of Malta
Waterpolo Junior National Team Coach – Karl Izzo Captain – Ben Plumpton Malta Triathlon Federation Keith Galea Hannah Pace Danica Bonello Spiteri Malta Shooting Federation Gianluca Azzopardi Spiteri Malta Hockey Association National Field Hockey Mens’ Team Coach – Pieter Bregman Captain – Mark Camilleri
Malta Federation of Bodybuilding and Fitness John Debono Raymond Cassar
BRONZE
Malta Weightlifting Federation
Malta Weightlifting National Team
Rodmar Pulis, Kyle Micallef, Ryan Agius, Jovan Reljic and Krista Camilleri Malta Taekwondo Federation Gianluca Barbara Malta Cycling Federation Marie Claire Aquilina Maurice Formosa Federazzjoni Maltija Lotta Gary Giordimaina Malta Tenpin Bowling Association Mauro Anastasi Malta Table Football Sports Association
Valletta Lions Table Football Club Captain – Adrian Bonnici Malta Gymnastics Federation Claire Azzopardi Suzanne Buttigieg Malta Shooting Federation William Vella Malta Amateur Athletics Association Rebecca Sare` Aquatic Sports Association of Malta Michael Umnov 4 x 100 Free Relay Team Andrew Chetcuti, Matthew Galea, Julian Harding and Michael Umnov Malta Handball Association Men’s Senior Beach Handball National Team Coach - Ian Psaila Captain - Christian McClean Malta Basketball Association Women’s National Basketball Team Coach - Angela Adamoli Captain - Josephine Grima Malta Tennis Federation Elaine Genovese Matthew Asciak Malta Judo Federation Marcon Bezzina Joanna Camilleri Jeremy Saywell Georgi Atanasov Murman Korchilava Malta Table Tennis Association Jessica Pace Viktoria Lucenkova
SILVER Malta Golf Association Golf Team Andrew Borg, JJ Micallef Verelst and Daniel Holland Federazjoni Maltija Lotta Adam Vella Malta Tenpin Bowling Association Mark Spiteri Malta Squash Men’s National Squash Team Bradley Hindle Deguara, Daniel Zammit Lewis, Gary Nitsche, Carl Camilleri, Dean Gera and Robert Sultana
Malta Table Football Sports Association Angelo Borg Charles Aquilina Massimo Cremona Malta Gymnastics Federation Women’s Artistic Gymnastics National Team
Claire Azzopardi, Suzanne Buttigieg, Kirsty Caruana, Peppijna Dalli and Sana Grillo Peppijna Dalli Monika Lazarova Malta Amateur Athletics Association Giselle Camilleri Janet Richard Aquatic Sports Association of Malta Andrew Chetcuti Malta Tennis Federation Elaine Genovese and Katrina Sammut Raffa Bowls David Farrugia and Nazzareno Farrugia
Malta Pool Association
Anton Cuschieri
GOLD
Malta Racing Club Rodney Gatt Malta Tenpin Bowling Association Sue Abela Malta Squash Women’s National Squash Team
Colette Sultana, Theresa Brousson, Johanna Rizzo and Liz Said
Malta Amateur Athletics Association Kevin Moore Rebecca Gorrieri (Camilleri) Charlotte Wingfield Malta Federation of Bodybuilding and Fitness
Luke Debono
HALL OF FAME
Joe Cassar Naudi, former well known football referee, and Moses Azzopardi, who represented Malta in the Rome Paralympic Games in 1960, were inducted in the Hall of Fame of the Malta Olympic Committee.
Cassar Naudi had a distinguished career not only as a referee, but also as a secretary and later president of the Malta Football Referees Association. He was also one of the first three to become a FIFA referee, being given the FIFA badge after controlling three international matches.
Azzopardi had won the silver medal in table tennis singles in the Rome Paralympic Games losing in the final against Italian Giovanni Berghella. He had also represented Malta in the European Championaships in Lyon, France, in 1968.
Qormi were winners of the Award for Local Councils who hosted a sporting event in their locality. Second were Safi and Gudja third.