The Malta team arrived in Podgorica on Sunday morning for the 18th edition of the Games of the Small States of Europe. This will be the first time that Montenegro will host these games which started in 1985 in San Marino.
Malta twice hosted these games in 1993 and ten years later in 2003, and is set to organise the 20th edition in 2023. On arrival in Podgorica the Malta contingent led by Malta Chef de Mission Paul Sultana, transferred to the coastal city of Budva where the athletes village is situated.
Budva will also host five of the ten sporting disciplines, namely Shooting, Tennis, Volleyball, Beach Volley, and Bowls. The city of Bar will host Athletics and Basketball, Judo in Cetinje, Table-Tennis in Tivat, and Swimming in the capital Podgorica.
Today the athletes will start their preparations for the competitions which will start tomorrow with the first events. Practically all events start tomorrow except for Bowls and Shooting which start on Wednesday.
The highlight of today's programme will be the Opening Ceremony which will be held this evening at 9pm in the Old Town of Budva. Malta's Flag Bearer at tonight's Opening Ceremony will be shooter Gianluca Chetcuti who was chosen for his star performance in San Marino winning gold in the double trap competition.
This will be the third time that a shooter will be Malta's Flag Bearer with Gianluca Chetcuti following William Chetcuti in 2005 and Eleonor Bezzina in 2015.
The full list of Flag bearers is the below.
1985 Alex Bezzina (Judo)
1987 Chris Cassar Torreggiani (Athletics)
1989 Ray Muscat (Basketball)
1991 Helen Asciak (Tennis)
1997 Jacki Xuereb (Judo)
1999 Laurie Pace (Judo)
2001 Simon Gerada (Table Tennis)
2003 Tanya Blake (Athletics)
2005 William Chetcuti (Shooting)
2007 Angela Galea (Swimming)
2009 Adriana Zammit (Gymnastics)
2011 Brad Hindle Deguara (Squash)
2013 Josephine Grima (Basketball)
2015 Eleonor Bezzina (Shooting)
2017 Charlotte Wingfield (Athletics)
2019 Gianluca Chetcuti (Shooting)
The Malta team will be aiming to improve on the 29 medals won, four of which gold, in the last edition two years ago in San Marino. Malta's best ever performance was in 2003 when Malta hosted these games, when Malta earned a total of 43 medals, 12 of which gold medals. Malta totally won 385 medals (67 Gold, 127 Silver, and 191 Bronze)
List of medals won
1985 1 (Bronze)
1987 6 (1 Gold)
1989 6 (2 Gold)
1991 7 (1 Gold)
1993 27 (4 Gold)
1995 12 (1 Gold)
1997 26 (5 Gold)
1999 20 (4 Gold)
2001 35 (7 Gold)
2003 43 (12 Gold)
2005 38 (7 Gold)
2007 30 (4 Gold)
2009 21 (3 Gold)
2011 29 (8 Gold)
2013 25 (2 Gold)
2015 31 (4 Gold)
2017 29 (4 Gold)