Three medals - two gold and one silver - for Malta in Serbia
Three Maltese athletes had a very successful performance last weekend at the 11th Vladan Milhajovic tournament in Serbia, bringing home 2 gold and 1 silver medal.
The team consisting of Yazmin Zammit Stevens, Elisia Scicluna and Vlad Baldacchino took the platform on Saturday alongside athletes from Serbia, Bosnia, Spain, Bulgaria, Georgia, Slovenia and Romania.
Scicluna (-90kg) was unfortunately suffering from a minor injury prior to this meet and therefore decided not to risk any further damage with maximum lifts. She finished with a comfortable 72kg snatch and 92kg clean and jerk. Despite the lower lifts she still managed to finish off in first place in her weight category.
Zammit Stevens (-75kg) also claimed gold in the tournament in her weight class. Even though she weighed in the lightest at 69.7kg, she outlifted her competitors with an 80kg snatch and 99kg clean and jerk, totalling 179kg and breaking one national record in the process. Yazmin is currently in preparation for the upcoming Mediterranean Games set to take place in Tarragona in June.
In the men’s group, Vlad Baldacchino (-94kg) had a stellar performance, breaking his own national record in the snatch with 128kg, and also beating his own clean and jerk competition best by 6kg with a 158kg clean and jerk. He totalled 286kg which was in turn another national record in the 94kg category. He claimed a silver medal, behind an incredibly tough competitor from Georgia. Baldacchino is on the right track going towards the European U23 Championships later on this year.
Zammit Stevens will be leaving for a 3 week training camp in Rome next week. She will be training with the Italian national team at their National Olympic training venue in Rome as part of her preparation for the Mediterranean Games.
Next Sunday, the Maltese athletes will be joined by athletes from Italy, England, Spain and France in an international tournament taking place in conjunction with the Malta Open at the Cottonera Sports Complex.
The event will be awarding the best place finish for a team (2 male and 2 female), Best team female, Best team male, Best individual female and Best individual male apart from the usual Malta Open awards.