Gianluca Chetcuti narrowly missed out on a medal after finishing fourth in the men’s trap final at the XX Mediterranean Games in Taranto on Wednesday.
Chetcuti had progressed through qualification to secure his place among the eight finalists and remained in contention for a podium finish until the closing stages of the competition.
Competing against seven other finalists, the Maltese shooter hit 17 of his first 20 targets before being eliminated in fourth place. He was level on points with Italy’s Buccolieri at that stage, but the tie was decided in favour of the Italian on bib number, leaving Chetcuti one place short of the podium.
Spain’s Andrés García García claimed the gold medal after defeating Greece’s Chatzitsakiroglou in a shoot-off, with the pair having been tied on 28. Buccolieri went on to secure the bronze medal with a score of 21.
Malta’s other representative, William Chetcuti, narrowly missed out on a place in the final after finishing just outside the qualifying positions.
Despite missing out on a medal, Gianluca Chetcuti’s fourth-place finish capped a positive campaign, with the Maltese shooter reaching the eight-man final and ultimately finishing as the highest-placed competitor outside the medal positions.
Genovese and De Gabriele advance in mixed doubles
In tennis, Elaine Genovese and Alex De Gabriele made an encouraging start to their mixed doubles campaign with a convincing 7-5, 6-1 victory over Kosovo’s Learta Muharremi and Florent Limani.
The Maltese pair produced a controlled performance, recovering after a closely contested opening set before taking command of the match in the second.
They will face a tougher challenge on Thursday when they take on Spain’s Lucia Cortez Llorca and Alejo Sanchez Quilez, both experienced players competing on the international ITF and Challenger circuits.
Maltese sailors set to begin campaign
Thursday will also see Malta’s sailors enter competition, with Mia Busuttil and Katrina Micallef competing in the ILCA 6 class.
Matthew Flores and Benjamin Vassallo will meanwhile represent Malta in the ILCA 7 class.
In badminton, Martina and Francesca Clark will take on Greece’s Theodora Lamprianidou and Eleni Moutevelidou in the ladies’ doubles as Team Malta’s Mediterranean Games campaign continues.
Sports Editor
Veteran Journalist
Leave a Reply