Malta’s athletes were in action across three disciplines on Monday 27th July. It was a day of promising performances and a personal best delivered by weightlifter Kim Camilleri Lagana, on her Commonwealth Games debut.
Athletics
Claire Azzopardi and Graham Pellegrini competed in the 100m heats this morning. Azzopardi clocked 11.87 seconds to finish 3rd in her heat in the Women’s 100m Round 1, while Pellegrini posted 10.84 seconds to place 5th in Heat 3 of the Men’s 100m Round 1. Both athletes return on Wednesday 29th July to compete in the Women’s and Men’s 200m Round 1 heats respectively.
Lawn Bowls
Shaun Parnis wrapped up his Men’s Singles campaign today against the Falkland Islands, going down 3–5, 3–6. Opponent Cecil Alexander got off to a strong start, took the opening set, and never looked back. Parnis battled hard throughout, fighting for every end, but it was not enough as he lost the match 2–0. Nonetheless he finished in second place in his group.
Weightlifting
Kim Camilleri Lagana made a strong impression at her first Commonwealth Games, finishing 8th in the women’s 53kg weightlifting event as the youngest athlete in the field.
She opened with a successful 70kg snatch before hitting a personal best of 73kg on her third attempt. In the clean and jerk, she lifted 90kg and 93kg to briefly take the lead, then attempted 96kg in her final lift — which would have moved her up two places — but fell short, all while returning from an injury that had limited building leg strength in the lead-up.
Tuesday’s Schedule
On Tuesday, Team Malta will be competing across multiple disciplines. In Athletics, Jared Micallef and Matthew Galea Soler will race in the 800m and 400m heats respectively. Artistic Gymnast Philippa Busuttil will compete in the Balance Beam Final whilst Swimmer Sasha Gatt takes on the 800m Freestyle heats.
Malta’s Weightlifters will be out in full force starting with Rylee Borg (-88kg), followed by Roberta Tabone (-63kg) and Tenishia Thornton (-69kg). In Lawn Bowls, Connie Rixon faces Cook Islands’ Emily Jim in the Women’s Singles, while Shaun Parnis and Troy Lorimer compete in the Men’s Pairs against Malaysia.
