The Weightlifting KTD Spartak tournament in Subotica Serbia from 22nd to 26th August, saw successful results from the Maltese team of three made up of Rodmar Pulis, Keith Azzopardi and Andy Borg.
Pulis, who is currently preparing for the upcoming World University Championships in Poland, finished with a 103kg snatch and closely missed his second and third attempt at 107kg. He then went on to clean and jerk 142kg in the second half of the competition. Despite this not being Rodmar’s best result in competition, he showed improving strength and confidence on the international platform and will continue his ongoing training for the bigger platform in Poland.
Junior athlete Andy Grech had an excellent showing as he finished with a 88kg snatch and 116kg clean and jerk. Another Junior lifter, Keith Azzopardi, who was a rookie on the international platform had a confident performance finishing with a personal best total as he lifted 85kg in the snatch and 104kg clean and jerk.
The Maltese team finished in 4th place overall where they competed against athletes from Hungary, Slovakia, Poland, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Romania, Uganda and the host country.
Jesmond Caruana was accompanying the Maltese team, as he was giving seminars prior to the tournament. The seminars were held in numerous cities around Serbia including Belgrade, Bač and Subotica and were open for athletes, coaches and officials. The seminar was aimed to teach the latter about the rules that go into a weightlifting competition. As Caruana travelled around these cities giving the seminars, the Maltese athletes had the opportunity to train with the Serbian athletes and overlooked by international coaches.