Success for Maltese Weightlifting team at the Mediterranean Cup in Brindisi, Italy

This particular competition was of particular significance, as this was the first Mediterranean Cup that Malta sent a full team of lifters.
 
 The first to participate was Jovan, who was successful in all three attempts in the Snatch lift as well as all three in the Clean and Jerk, scoring a personal best total of 209kg. Next up was Matthew Muscat Inglott, who had somewhat of a shaky start by missing his first attempt at the Snatch, however he managed to hold on by getting all three "white lights" from the referees after his second attempt, signaling a successful lift. In the Clean and Jerk portion of the competition, Matthew was successful with a solid 110kg, scoring a total of 203kg, a valiant effort.
 
In the women's section, which commenced straight after the men's B group, Nicole Gatt, weighing in at 51kg had a solid start with two successful Snatch attempts, narrowly missing her third. In the Clean and Jerk, Nicole succeeded in her third attempt and scored a total of 107kg.
 
Last to lift in the competition was eighteen year old Rodmar Pulis. Early jitters caused him to miss his opening Snatch attempt of 95 kg, however Rodmar fought back and succeeded in both the remaining two Snatch attempts, including the third and final 100kg, breaking the Maltese junior national record by 2kg. In the Clean and Jerk he concluded the competition with a solid 130kg attempt, breaking yet another national record in both the Clean and Jerk and total.
 
Malta ended the competition in 7th place out of the 12 countries that took part, with 961 points, just five points behind 6th place Bosnia and Herzegovina. As a team competition, the final result and placement was determined by the total amount of points gained by each country combined. This is calculated using a points system based on both the lifter’s own bodyweight as well as the weight lifted.
 
Stephen Borg, former Malta athlete and coach, was also included in the competition, however on this occasion as one of the referees. It is worth mentioning that this was Stephen’s first experience refereeing an international competition
 
Prior to the start of the competition, Malta Weightlifting Association President Jesmond Caruana was elected as an Executive Board Member by representatives from the 19 countries participating in the congress.

During the presentation of award, Jesmond was also present with a medal and a Certificate of Merit from the European Weightlifting Federation which expressed their sincere gratitude for the support given to the sport of Weightlifting.