Local sports on a high

By Ray Abdilla

It is not common to speak about Maltese sports thriving at the forefront in the European front. The magnificent showing by Ira Losco at the Eurovision and the good showing lately in waterpolo, rugby and bowling confirmed that being small is not always a handicap.

I have believed in it all my life and I will continue to do so until I die. You're not strong if you're big and weak if you're small. If that is the case than China and India should contest the World Cup final and win all competitions. But that never happens. On the contrary we had the likes of Denmark winning the European Championships by beating the likes of Germany.

Maltese bowlers, Raymond Falzon and Marita German have won the Mixed Doubles in the 2002 European Gold Cup Tournament held in Riga, Latvia, last weekend. With 2507 points, Malta emerged a clear winner from among 26 countries.

Greece with 2478 and Italy with 2477 points placed second and third respectively. For the record, Lithuania obtained the tenth place, while hosts Latvia could only manage the 16th place. Countries such as Northern Ireland, Wales, Germany, England finished 4th, 7th, 17th and 22nd.

With this impressive result, last weekend generated another success for Malta in the Baltic States. Perhaps bowling is not as popular as the Eurovision, but I’m sure that all Maltese will be proud with this result. We have a great future for bowling in Malta.

Malta can boast of a host of positive results in the European Gold Cup Championships, with twenty-three different awards within the top four positions. These include three victories in the Mixed Doubles’ Event: in 1986 in the Netherlands by Roderick Mayl and Anna Deguara; in 1987 in Ireland by Melissa Abela and Roy Swift and on home soil in 1990 by Odette Farrugia and Tyrone Demanuele.

The Association has also won two European Championship titles in the Individual’s Event, both in the Ladies’ Sections: Melissa Abela and Odette Farrugia were both declared European Gold Cup Champions in 1987 in Dublin and in 1990 at the Eden Super Bowl in St. Julians, respectively.

Falzon and German had won the right to represent Malta when they were crowned champions of the respective Men and Ladies Categories in the 2002 edition of the Budweiser National Gold Cup.

Twenty-six bowling federations participated. They also included Armenia, Austria, Belarus, Belgium, Cyprus, Denmark, France, Israel, Hungary, Ireland, Isle of Man, Netherlands, Poland, Russia, Spain, and Ukraine.

Rugby

The Malta National Rugby Squad achieved a historical first when they completed their unbeaten run this season to finish at the top of Pool C, by drawing with an unexpectedly strong home side in Norway. Malta were the only team to come away without a defeat in an away match this season and thus landed the top spot.

The gruelling encounter that finished with a draw 10-10 against Norway’s team qualified for the second round of the European Championships. The match took place last week-end in Oslo, Norway. The Malta Rugby team, sponsored by Cisk Lager and Barclays Bank, have brought home another victory for Malta this week.

"The road to Norway was a severe one for the team", said Malta Rugby Football Union (MRFU) President, Kevin Buttigieg. "The training camp in Harlow, and poor flight availability to Norway meant early wake up calls and long flights for the team. Another factor that contributed to the difficulty of the away game was a confusing kit choice, both teams were wearing almost identical red kits, but this was acceptable by the match commissioner".

However, Malta’s team showed the great determination and grit throughout the match. Man of the match for Malta was Gozitan Joe Sultana scoring the first try and setting up Mark Cuschieri in the second try.

The new coach, Graham Richards will take up his post in Malta next September. Mr Richard’s appointment is evidence of the MRFU’s commitment to school and youth game development.

Next year, the MRFU are embarking on another campaign in which they are likely to find themselves pitted against opponents of the calibre of Yugoslavia, Bosnia, Israel, Luxembourg and Lithuania.

Waterpolo

Malta's qualification to the finals of the European 'B' championships three weeks ago at the expense of Britain, Austria, Switzerland and Lithuania, has provided further evidence that the level of waterpolo on the islandis on the way up

The creditable fourth place obtained by the Maltese a month ago in the Commonwealth Championships in Manchester, testifies this. When one assesses our recent results on the international stage weighing in the handicap of out-of-season commitments for our players, the overall performance is commendable.

The team's fighting qualities allowed for good performances by a largely young squad. Let's hope other sport disciplines will follow suit.