Controversial scoring from judges force Malta, Liechtenstein to lodge protest
The Malta artistic swimming national team won three medals on the opening day of competition, which was marred by controversy in the duet technical routine, where our swimmers were initially demoted to a bronze medal despite initially gathering points for silver.
The Maltese swimmers put on a strong showing in the solo technical routine, with Zea Montfort and Ana Culic winning silver and bronze medals, and only bowing to the class of San Marino star Jessica Verbena, who took the gold medal with a brilliant routine that earned her 236.0750.
Montfort equally wowed the crowd with a performance of class and high-level technique to take silver on 21.7750 while Culic, the last swimmer in the water, completed a podium double for Malta when taking bronze on 203.4017.
Next up was the duet technical routine, and here, Culic teamed up with Thea Zammit Buttigieg and produced a solid performance that initially earned them 196.4183.
Then Andorra were next, and Zoe Palau Alcaide and Jasmine Serrano Steksova went top of the standings when scoring 198.6392.
The Maltese duo looked set to take silver when Andorra 2’s duo Mariona Casas Monteja and Aran Van den Sanabre took the water and their performance earned them 192.5708 which put them in third place.
But incredibly, the judges declared Andorra 2 as the silver medallist at the expense of Malta to the surprise of the Maltese clan, who immediately protested along with Liechtenstein, who were ranked fourth.
Delegates heard the complaint lodged by Malta and Liechtenstein and announced that a decision will be made on Saturday morning.
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