Team Malta arrived on the Mediterranean Games stage with intent on Saturday, opening their campaign at the 20th edition of the Games in Taranto, Italy with athletes competing across four disciplines — Badminton, Skeet Shooting, Cycling and Raffa. It was a day of early battles, encouraging performances and momentum building, as the Maltese squad set the tone for the days ahead.
Badminton
Malta’s Badminton mixed doubles pair Francesca Clark and Samuel Cassar bowed out of the Round of 32 after a 21-10, 21-12 defeat to Italy’s David Salutt and Martina Corsini. Up against a seasoned home pairing — both multiple Italian national doubles champions, the Maltese duo fought to find their rhythm in the opening game as the Italians took control from the first rallies. Clark and Cassar regrouped in the second set competing with far greater intensity and making the Italians work for every point, but the hosts’ experience told as they closed out the match in straight games.
Cycling
The 17km time trial wound through the streets of Taranto on a highly technical course packed with twists and turns. Malta’s Andrea Mifsud and Aidan Buttigieg both took to the start ramp, with Mifsud crossing the line in 21:26.80 to finish 9th, while Buttigieg clocked 21:57.39 for 13th place.
The pair faced a competitive field featuring several current and former professional cyclists. Italy’s Mirco Maestri brought Grand Tour pedigree to the course, with multiple Giro d’Italia appearances to his name, while Turkey’s Ahmet Orken and Cyprus’s Bogdan Zabelinskiy added WorldTour-level experience to the start list. The podium was tightly contested — just eight seconds separating the top three — underlining the genuine depth of quality across the 22-rider field.
Photo Credit: Marco Carla
The full Maltese team will be complete on Monday when Bernard Galea joins Mifsud and Buttigieg for the Road Race, and where the squad is eyeing a positive result. The 140km race over hilly circuits is expected to suit the characteristics of the Maltese riders far better, and the team will be looking to make their presence felt.
Shooting
André Cassar and Liam Sciberras were in action across three qualifying rounds of clay target shooting, each round consisting of 25 targets. Competing in sweltering heat with only light winds offering little relief, Cassar put in a solid performance to sit in 10th place at the end of the day with a total of 68, while Sciberras sits just behind in 13th with 66.
The field carries considerable pedigree, with Italian Olympic gold medallist Gabriele Rossetti who claimed skeet shooting glory at Rio 2016.
Both athletes return to the range tomorrow morning for the final two qualifying rounds, with the top eight advancing to the second stage of competition.
Raffa
A fine performance from Stefan Farrugia, who defeated Slovenia’s Nik Svara in what turned out to be a fairly comfortable victory across eight ends. Farrugia started well to build an early lead. Svara hit back well in ends 3 and 4, claiming 5 points without reply to briefly threaten a comeback, but Farrugia steadied himself and shut his opponent out completely over the final four ends, outscoring him 6-0 to seal a convincing 10-5 win. Farrugia will be competing again on Sunday morning against France’s Aurelien Corbihan.
Sunday promises another active day for the red and white. Alycia Cassar steps onto the Taekwondo mat in the -67kg event at 10:00am, where she faces Croatia’s Ivana Arelic. Later in the morning, wrestler Nico Zarb enters the Men’s elimination rounds at 10:30am.
