The bad weather conditions did not hinder the Maltese squads in their preparation for their debut today. Both teams will play two games today.
The men's squad is inserted in Group A together with Montenegro, Monaco and Luxembourg. The pair made up of Manuel Raffa and Roberto Balzan, will make their debut at 6pm against hosts Montenegro.
Malta's second match will be on Wednesday at 2pm against Luxembourg and last match at 4pm on Thursday against Monaco.
The women's team also under the guidance of coach Oskar Bjorlin will also have two fixtures today. At 9am they will face Monaco and then play Liechtenstein at 3pm. Melissa Sue Cheviron and Dominika Dworniczak will be again in action on Wednesday facing Luxembourg.
The Maltese pair will then face Montenegro on Thursday and finish their commitments on Friday against Cyprus.
Swimming takes centre stage on opening day
The swimming events are set to get underway this afternoon in Podgorica with the first Maltese swimmers in action. In this year's edition, for the first time in the history of these games, there will be no heats but only direct finals which will assign the medals.
In today's programme there are nine finals, nine other finals are scheduled for tomorrow Wednesday, with the final ten events scheduled for Thursday.
The Maltese swimming team is made up of the following swimmers:
Men: Dylan Cachia, Andrew Chetcuti, Matthew Galea, Harry Stacey, Michael Stafrace, Mikhail Umnov, Thomas Wareing.
Women: Mya Azzopardi, Francesca Falzon Young, Alexandra Mcgonigle, Sasha Gatt, Amy Micallef, Martina Valletta, Michee Van Rooyen.
In today's finals Francesca Falzon Young and Martina Valletta will take part in the 100m freestyle, and in the men's 100m freestyle Malta will be represented by Andrew Chetcuti and Harry Stacey.
Dylan Cachia will be in action in the men's 200m butterfly, and Thomas Wareing will take part in the men's 200m backstroke. Michael Umnov and Thomas Wareing will represent Malta in the men's 200m medley.
In the long distance races Sasha Gatt and Michelle Van Rooyen will take part in the women's 800m freestyle. Dylan Cachia will also be in action the men's 1,500m freestyle. In today's first day there will also be the men's and women's 4x100m freestyle relays.
Rain disrupts training sessions
Rain disrupted the planned training session of our tennis players in the morning. The weather conditions do not augur well for the whole tournament as rain is forcasted for the coming days in Budva.
The tennis tournaments will be played on clay surface, with the courts situated a very short distance from the athlete's village. Apart from the singles tournaments, there will also be the doubles and mixed doubles events, and also the team tournament.
Malta is represented by four tennis players, Francesca Curmi and Elaine Genovese in the women's competitions, and Mathhew Asciak and Omar Sudzuka in the men's competition.
Judokas aiming to gain experience
The Judo competitions will also get underway today, at the Sport Centre in Cetinje. Malta has a team of seven judokas, five in the men's competition and two in the female competition. Five of these judokas are in their first experience in these games and will be aiming to gain much needed experience.
These are Lara Castillo, Kataryna Esposito, Francesco Aufieri, Clive Camilleri, and Luca Montebello. The Judo competition is spread over two days with the second and final day scheduled for Thursday 30th May.
Today's men competitions will comprise the -60kg, -66kg, -73kg, -81kg, -90kg, and -100kg competitions, and in the women's field the 52kg, -63kg, and -70kg. Lara Castillo will be in action in the women's 52kg, and Kataryna Esposito will be in action in the -63kg.
Jeremy Saywell will be in action in the -66kg event in the men's competition.
Girls start defending gold against Iceland
The women’s Basketball team will start defending the gold medal won two years ago in San Marino when they face Iceland in the opening match this morning at 11am. Malta will be again in action tomorrow also at 11am against Monaco.
It will be a difficult for the Maltese girls to repeat the San Marino success, as hosts Montenegro are considered as hot favourites to clinch gold. However the Maltese will do their best to reach at least the podium.
The following players are at the disposal of coach Angela Adamoli. Sophie Abela, Patricia Arguello, Maria Bonnett, Maddison Borg, Samantha Brincat, Christina Curmi, Steffi de Martino, Kristy Galea, Gabriella Mifsud, Sarah Pace, Amelia Simmons, Ashleigh Van Vleight.
The men’s squad will also make its debut today facing Cyprus at 5.45pm this afternoon. Their second match will be tomorrow at 3.30pm against Iceland. Here again the hosts are clear favourites to win the gold medal as they possess a very strong outfit.
The Maltese players are David Bugeja, Kurt Cassar, Chad Patus, Samuel Deguara, aaron Falzon, Tevin Falzon, Alec Felice Pace, Matthew Gouder, Nelson Kahler, Peter Shoults, Roderick Vella, Nathan Xuereb.