Wednesday proved a quieter day for Team Malta at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, with Maltese athletes in action in athletics and lawn bowls delivering several encouraging performances.
In the women’s 200 metres, Claire Azzopardi clocked 24.16 seconds (+1.4 m/s) to finish 23rd among a field of 35 athletes, narrowly missing her season’s best of 24.01. Combined with her performance in the 100 metres earlier in the Games, the result underlined the consistency she has shown throughout the season and provides further encouragement ahead of future major championships.
Graham Pellegrini was also in action in the men’s 200 metres, recording a time of 21.20 seconds (+2.4 m/s) to place 31st out of 59 competitors.
Although the performance cannot be recognised as an official season’s best because the tailwind exceeded the legal limit of +2.0 m/s, it was Pellegrini’s fastest run of the year under all conditions and represents another positive step following a difficult 2025 campaign.
In the men’s pairs lawn bowls competition, Shaun Parnis and Troy Lorimer took on Wales’ Ross Owen and Daniel Salmon.
For the second successive match, the Maltese pair conceded five shots on the opening end and, despite responding well, the Welsh duo controlled the remainder of the first set to secure an 8-3 victory.
Malta, however, showed great determination in the second set, edging it 4-3 to force a tie-break.
Taking the mat in the decider, Lorimer produced three excellent bowls around the jack, placing two in particularly strong positions. Wales were unable to respond, allowing Malta to clinch the tie-break and register their first victory of the campaign after two matches.
Team Malta returns to action on Thursday with another busy programme across athletics and lawn bowls.
Connie Rixon opens her women’s singles campaign against Daphne Arthur-Almond of the Falkland Islands before facing Australia’s Ellen Fife later in the day.
Shaun Parnis and Troy Lorimer continue their men’s pairs schedule with a morning encounter against Jersey.
On the athletics track, Gina McNamara will compete in the second heat of the women’s mile, which replaces the 1,500 metres on the Glasgow programme.
Later in the evening, Jared Micallef will line up in the men’s 800 metres semi-finals after securing qualification earlier this week.
Leave a Reply