Friday’s action was confined to the water, where Team Malta’s ILCA 6 and ILCA 7 sailors completed two races on the second day of their competition schedule. An unstable sea breeze, driven by the extreme heat, made for demanding conditions across the fleet. Some tactical errors crept into Malta’s racing, and with the fleet closely packed, the margin for error is slim, every mistake is reflected almost immediately on the results board. The competition remains wide open however with four racing days still to come. In the evening, Liam Delicata was due to face a Greek opponent in singles play. His opponent withdrew due to illness, giving Delicata a walkover.
Shooting
On Saturday morning, Eleanor Bezzina competed in the 10m Air Pistol Women’s Qualification at the Mediterranean Games on Saturday 29 August, taking to the range against a field of 26 athletes from across the Mediterranean region.
The standard at the top of the qualification standings was exceptionally high. Turkey’s Şevval İlayda Tarhan led on 573.0 — a Paris 2024 Olympic silver medallist in the mixed team event — while Serbia’s Zorana Arunović followed on 572.0. Arunović, a former world number one and individual world champion, won Olympic gold in the mixed team at Paris 2024, Serbia’s first-ever Olympic shooting gold. Together, the top two qualifiers hold an Olympic gold and silver from the most recent Games.
Nine athletes progressed to the final, with France’s Pioch and Greece’s Michelaki both advancing after tying on 568.0 — under ISSF rules, both qualify when the last spot cannot be separated by score. Bezzina posted a score of 547.0, which unfortunately was not sufficient to advance to the final round.
Triathlon
On Saturday afternoon, in brutal conditions that ranged from extreme heat to gusting winds, Kai Azzopardi and Ryan Muscat competed in the men’s sprint distance triathlon, a race that drew 27 competitors.
Azzopardi emerged from the water in 13th place with a swim time of 9:51. On the bike, he held his own alongside the more experienced riders in the chase pack — a strong showing given the quality of the field — before lifting his pace on the run to finish 12th overall in a time of 56:51.
Muscat exited the water in 23rd place, clocking 11:10 for the swim, and maintained his position through the bike leg. He crossed the line in 22nd place with a total time of 1:03:55, moving up one place from where he had started the run.
Danica Bonello Spiteri took to the course for the women’s race, which was dominated from the outset by Italy’s Bianca Seregni. Seregni attacked hard from the swim and maintained relentless pressure on the bike, dropping the entire field in the process. Bonello Spiteri, along with a number of other competitors caught out by the leading pace, was withdrawn from the event under race rules.
Tennis
Despite a determined performance, Liam Delicata fell to Morocco’s Karim Bennani in straight sets (6-1, 6-3). He then partnered with Alex Degabriele for the doubles, where the pair faced a strong Spanish side made up of Alejandro Martí Pujolras and Alejo Sánchez Quílez, going down in two sets (6-2, 6-2). To ight they will face Cyprus fir the Bronze Medal Match
On Sunday, Team Malta continues its campaign in tennis,sailing and athletics, with Liam Delicata and Alex Degabriele facing Cyprus’ Melios Efstathiou and Eleftherios Neos in the Bronze Medal match. Claire Azzopardi and Graham Pellegrini compete in Round 1 heats of the 100m, Jeremy Zammit in the long jump final, and Jared Micallef in the 800m heats.
