Sports

For MaltaMedia's sports editor Antoine Busuttil, 2002 will be a year to remember for a number of feats obtained by local athletes in international competitions.

After placing fourth in the Commonwealth Championship in March, the national waterpolo team, under the guidance of coach Dirk Dowling, took part in the qualifying round of the European B Championships in Sofia, Bulgaria. Malta placed second in group, therefore qualifying for the championship proper, which were held in Stockholm in August. Malta placed second in group, suffering only a defeat to group-winners Turkey. After beating Sweden in the quarter-finals, Malta lost to Poland in the semi-finals. However Dowling's boys rose to the occasion in the final for the third place defeating Turkey 9-8. This was a historic result, definitely the best ever obtained by Malta in waterpolo.

After winning the double, Sliema Burger King obtained another historic achievement in waterpolo as they managed to qualify for the second phase of the LEN Champions Cup.

In rugby, the national team remained unbeaten throughout 2002. After obtaining the first win by beating Monaco in November 2001, Malta defeated Bulgaria 27-14 in March. Coach Nigel 'Ben' Bennett had to leave the island and new coach Graham Richards stepped in. In May, Malta drew 10-10 with Norway in Oslo to end its commitments in Division 3 Pool C at the top of the table among four teams. In November, the team played two matches from the European Championships Division 3 Pool B. After beating Lithuania 22-18 at the Marsa Sports Grounds, Malta registered its first win away from home beating Austria 25-16 in Vienna.

Young shooter William Chetcuti obtained a most prestigious result in the Commonwealth Games as he landed a bronze medal in the Double Trap event. Other positive results in the Commonwealth Games in Manchester were obtained by Rachid Chouhal who reached the final of the long jump. Angela Galea and Roberta Callus obtained four national records and a personal best in swimming. The results obtained by the other athletes were quite encouraging.

The national football team claimed the Rothmans International Tournament after beating Jordan 2-1, a 1-1 draw with Lithuania and a 3-0 win over Moldova. Malta extended its positive run with a draw with Andorra and a win over Azerbaijan. However as from August, it was back to square one as Malta suffered five consecutive defeats to Macedonia, Slovenia, Israel, France and Cyprus. However Malta still managed to improve its ranking by nine places, climbing from 131st to 122nd.

In the domestic scene, Hibernians claimed the Rothmans Premier League championship for the ninth time to celebrate in style the 80th anniversary of the club. In the first qualifying round of the Champions League, the Paolites managed to beat Irish side Shelbourne 3-2 on aggregate. In the second round, Hibs were eliminated by Boavista of Portugal but only after an impressive 3-3 draw at Ta' Qali.

Birkirkara claimed two trophies in a week's time in May beating Sliema and Hibs in the Rothmans Trophy and the Rothmans Super Cup finals respectively. In July, Sliema Wanderers won the Lowenbrau Cup.

Tanya Blake wrote a new page in history of athletics after qualifying for the semi-finals of the 800 metres event in the European Championships in Munich.

The Archery Association's national squad took part in the 4th edition of the Archery Games of the Small States of Europe held in Luxembourg. Malta won the individual men's compound bronze medal thanks to John Pace and the men’s compound team silver medal.

In bowling, Malta won two bronze medals in the Commonwealth Championships which were held in Scotland. Sue Abela won a bronze medal in the ladies' singles and then claimed another bronze medal when she joined her sister Melissa Anastasi in the ladies' doubles.

For the second year in succession, a Maltese boat claimed the Rolex Middle Sea Race. John Ripard and Andrew Calscione on board Market Wizard claimed the prestigiuous trophy.