Malta strikes gold in the European Small Nations Championships

Malta Weightlifting made history on Sunday by winning their first-ever team gold at the European Small Nations Championships held in San Marino.

The team made up of male lifters Anton Micallef, Shaun Ciantar and Vlad Baldacchino together with female lifters Roberta Tabone and Yazmin Zammit Stevens managed to beat both Cyprus and Iceland who finished second and third respectively.

Monaco finished in fourth place with San Marino fifth and Luxembourg sixth.

In the men’s Group A, Vlad Baldacchino managed a 126 kg snatch and a 157kg clean and jerk accumulating a total of 309 points.

Anton Micallef lifted 112kg in the snatch and ended with 135kg in his clean and jerk, giving him 295 points.

Shaun Ciantar competed in the men’s Group B group and managed 105kg in the snatch and 125kg in the clean and jerk which is equal to 285 points.

Roberta Tabone had an excellent showing at these championships, lifting personal bests across the board. She managed to finish with 84kg in the snatch and 105kg in the clean and jerk resulting to amass 234 points. 

Olympian Yazmin Zammit Stevens managed to finish in second place overall for the female individual lifters just behind the Iceland representative. She ended with 85kg in the snatch and 102kg in the clean and jerk, managing 240 points.

The Malta national team amassed a total of 1,365 to finishe ahead of both Cyprus (1333 points) and Iceland (1,239 points), the two countries that have been dominating these championships in the past years. This was the first time ever Malta won gold overall for the mixed team.

Meanwhile, the San Marino Open was held in conjunction with these championships where youth lifters Rylee Borg, Kaya Inguanez and Aaliyah Gatt managed to finish in fourth place.

Gatt managed 37kg in snatch and 50kg in the clean and jerk while Iguanez managed a 39kg snatch and 48kg in the clean and jerk.

Tulle Borg, who is just 15 years old, had an impressive competition finishing with personal bests and six national records across the board after he managed 90kg in the snatch and 112kg in the clean and jerk.

In a statement, the Malta Weightlifting Association thanked the Maltese Olympic Committee and SportMalta for their constant support.