Antoine Busuttil, Sports Editor at MaltaMedia, reviews 2001 - a year mixed with unexpected successes and the usual disappointments.

2001 will be a year to remember for Maltese sports enthusiasts especially for the achievements of Maltese athletes and teams in the Small Nations' Games, football, waterpolo and rugby.

Considering our limitations and the impossibility of making an impact in important events such as the Olympic Games, Malta has to focus most of its resources on other regional games and competitions. Malta came out with flying colours from this year's edition of the Games of the Small States of Europe which was held in San Marino.

Without any doubt, this was the most successful performance ever for Malta in these games. Malta won a total of 35 medals: 7 gold, 12 silver and 16 bronze. This was a big achievement for the Maltese athletes since Malta had won just 20 medals in the previous edition in Liechtenstein.

The disciplines which gave most satisfaction to the Maltese were athletics and judo with 14 and 8 medals respectively. The most important success was that of Tanya Blake, an athlete based in the UK, who won the gold medal in the 800 metres establishing a record time for the games. Judo was once again the sport to give great satisfaction to Malta. In fact out of the ten judokas taking place, eight of them won a medal with Laurie Pace and Natalie Galea claiming gold. In shooting, Malta managed to win a gold medal thanks to Philip Busuttil in the double-trap. Malta's other two gold medals were obtained, ironically in two sports which will not be included in two years' time in the next edition of the games which will be held in Malta. Dave Millar won the gold medal in the time-trial while Stefan Farrugia dominated the raffa event in bowls (bocci).

MaltaMedia has prepared a special feature on the GSSE which can be viewed here.

A Dinamo Moscow player tackles B'Kara's Chucks Nwoko (Photo by Dominic Aquilina)

In football, Valletta dominated the local scene winning the Premier League, Rothmans Trophy and the Super Cup. However in Europe, after an encouraging goalless draw at Ta' Qali, the Citizens were humiliated by FC Haka after a 0-5 defeat in Finland. But the local clubs taking part in the UEFA competitions managed to establish a record as for the first time, none of the local teams was beaten at home. In fact, Sliema defeated Matador Puchov of Slovakia 2-1 and Hibs beat Zaglebie Lubin 1-0 while Birkirkara tied 0-0 with Lokomotiv Tbilisi of Georgia. The Stripes went even further as they managed to reach the First Round of the competition following a 1-1 draw in Tbilisi. They were drawn to meet Dinamo Moscow of Russia and after a narrow 1-0 away defeat, they held the Moscovites in a goalless draw at Ta' Qali.

You can take a detailed look at how the Maltese teams fared internationally in the UEFA Section of www.maltafootball.com.

In domestic football, in the first competition of season 2001/02, Sliema Wanderers claimed the Lowenbrau Cup.

For the national team, results were not that encouraging. Malta suffered nine defeats and won just one game, 2-1 against Canada in a friendly match last November. After defeats to Sweden in a friendly match and to Denmark and Iceland both at home and away in the World Cup qualifiers, national coach Josif Ilic was sacked. A new coach, former German international Sigi Held, was appointed. Despite defeates to Bulgaria, the Czech Republic and the Northern Ireland, the team seems to be improving.

A number of national team players had the opportunity to play for foreign clubs. Stefan Giglio and Chucks Nwoko joined CSKA Sofia in January with Giglio staying in Bulgaria also this season. Young goalkeeper Justin Haber joined Bulgarian side SK Dobrudzha early this year. In July, another two players moved abroad. Michael Mifsud joined Bundesliga side Kaiserslautern while Gilbert Agius joined Italian Serie C1 side Pisa.

Sliema ASC won this year's Waterpolo League

In waterpolo, Go Mobile Sirens started the year on a positive note after winning the Cisk Lager Winter League. However in the summer league, Sliema Burger King claimed the title after winning a decisive match thanks to the golden-goal.

But in Europe, Sirens made a historical breakthrough when they became the first club to reach the Preliminary Round of the Champions Cup when they placed as runners-up in the qualifying round Group C after beating Salgueiros Porto and Vitbic Vitebesk.

In rugby, the Maltese national team registered a historic win while playing the first game of the European Championships. Malta obtained the first win ever in a competitive match beating Monaco 8-0 at the Marsa Sports Grounds.

In basketball, Fiat Luxol claimed the Kinnie National League title after beating Rabat Depiro Eden Leisure in the final of the play-offs. In the mean time, Malta took part in the 33rd edition European Men`s Championship playing against Romania, Hungary and Austria. Although Malta suffered six defeats, the best performance was that against Romania which Malta lost 101-81.

The volleyball scene was marked by the record-breaking marathon organised by the Kerygma Movement. Players played non-stop for 222 hours during the event.