Over the weekend, the Malta Wrestling Federation organised an international tournament, featuring teams from Scotland, Republic of Ireland and the United Kingdom. The event coincided with the Federation’s 55th anniversary since its establishment. This would not have been possible without the support of Bridgepoint Malta, SportMalta and the Maltese Olympic Committee. More than 40 wrestlers participated in total, with the event taking place at the SportMalta complex in Marsa.
The Maltese team comprised a mix of experienced wrestlers and newcomers, for whom this served as their first experience competing against foreign wrestlers. There are plans to continue holding this tournament annually for the benefit of all Maltese wrestlers.
The best results were achieved by Gary Giordmaina and Nico Zarb, who managed to secure medals in two different categories. Gary won gold in both the 61kg and 65kg categories. He won all five of his matches without suffering any defeats. Meanwhile, Nico claimed gold in the 79kg category and bronze in the 86kg. Other Maltese wrestlers who performed well were Gabriel Caruana, Mark Bugeja, Nathaniel Buttigieg D’Ugo, Jean Carlo Benetti, Matthew Aquilina, Dejan Briffa, Luke Bugeja, Eren Erkayasi and Cedric Vella.
Malta won four out of nine categories, finishing first in the overall team rankings, followed by Ireland in second place and Scotland in third place.
The team was led by National coach Jesmond Giordmaina.
