Mixed fortunes for Jeremy Gatt as group stage ends at EYOF

Day two of the European Youth Olympic Festival (EYOF) in Skopje, North Macedonia, saw Maltese badminton player Jeremy Gatt wrap up his group stage commitments with a win and a defeat.

In the morning session, Gatt faced Norway’s Deeptanshu Toka and claimed a confident straight-sets victory. After taking the first set 21–17, he recovered from an early deficit in the second to close out the match 21–16.

Later in the afternoon, Gatt went up against Greece’s Zisis Pegios. Despite showing resilience and engaging in lengthy rallies, Gatt was outplayed by the Greek player, who secured the win with back-to-back 21–14 sets.

Gatt concluded Group 3 of the boys’ singles competition in third place out of five players — a solid effort, though not enough to progress to the knockout stage.

Team Malta continued its participation at the EYOF on Wednesday, 23 July. Michela Scerri competed in the Taekwondo Round of 32 in the -44kg category, while Thea Parnis Coleiro returned to the athletics track for the 200m heats. Results will be updated in due course.

Day Three Roundup: Team Malta at the European Youth Olympic Festival

The third day of the European Youth Olympic Festival saw Maltese athletes competing in athletics, artistic gymnastics, and taekwondo.
In taekwondo—making its debut at these Games—Michela Scerri won her first-round bout against Austria’s Mei Hui Liu (AUT) with a score of 2-0. She then faced Turkey’s Nur Yilmaz,a much stronger opponent, resulting in a 2-0 loss for Malta.

At the National Stadium Todor Proeski, Thea Parnis Coleiro competed in the 200m heats, finishing second in her heat. Her time of 24.15 seconds marked a personal best and set a new national age group record. She now advances to the semi-final, scheduled for today, 24th July at 11 a.m.

Meanwhile, in Osijek, Croatia, Sophie St. John took part in the Girls’ Artistic Gymnastics All-Around competition. This included the Uneven Bars (9.800) , Balance Beam (12.550), Floor Exercise (12.050), and Vault (12.650). St John finished in 26th place with an overall score of 47.050, and in the process qualified for the final round in the Balance Beam, which
will take place on the 26th July.

Gerald Fenech

Sports Editor
Veteran Journalist