Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/619227
maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 23 DECEMBER 2015 23 Sport Answers to the MaltaToday crossword will be published next Wednesday WEATHER: Partly cloudy locally rather cloudy at times and with some isolated showers VISIBILITY: Good except in some showers WIND: Northerly force 3 to 4 becoming locally force 2 to 3 overnight SEA: Slight SWELL: Negligible Sea Temp.: 19 °C A B C D E F G H 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 White to play and mate in four moves A B C D E F G H 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Last week's solution Sudoku rules are extremely easy: Fill all empty squares so that the numbers 1 to 9 appear once in each row, column and 9x9 box. CHANCE OF SHOWERS 17 º C / 10 º C UV INDEX: 2 Today's Weather Chess Sudoku Pursuits Across 1. Articles of glass 8. Snake 9. Sullen 10. Hurry 12. Paint unskilfully 14. Close 15. Jewish girl 17. Consisting of sand 18. Connected series of rooms 20. Person who is given to pranks Down 2. Male child 3. Thoroughfare 4. Cleanse 5. Free from confinement 6. Person who operates machinery 7. East Shetland village 11. Wrench 13. Stops 16. Song in praise of God 19. I have g7 Kh7 Kf7 Kh6 g8=Q+ Kh5 Qg3 Kh6 Qh4# (or Qg6#) of a phenomena erbaijan where she had to contend with athletes the likes of Olympic champion Nicola Spirig. The growth of the sport has seen an impressive surge in athletes taking part in international races, with Ironman 70.3 and Ironman races topping the bill. National Duathlon and Sprint Triathlon champion Michelle Vella Wood was the first Maltese athlete to compete in the pro cat- egory in Ironman and Ironman 70.3 races. Vella Wood obtained a podium finish in Ironman 70.3 Gdynia. Up and coming Triathlete of the Year Hannah Pace has established herself firmly on the scene and has taken to longer distance races this year – her performances at the Ironman 70.3 race in Budapest not only saw her win her highly competitive age group as well as qualify for the coveted 2016 World Ironman 70.3 Champion- ships to take place in Australia – the first Maltese female to do so. Pace went on to take another first place at Ironman 70.3 in Turkey. Further success was registered in Turkey by Graham Borg and Long Distance Champion Marga- ret Seguna who secured a coveted place at the Ironman 70.3 World Championships and third place in age group podium respective- ly. Graham Borg had other solid performances on an international level, especially at the Garmin Barcelona Triathlon and the 5150 Triathlon in Barcelona. Long Distance Triathlon Cham- pion Fabio Spiteri whose focus is long distance races saw a number of successes registered in 2015 having claimed podium finishes in Sicily, Poznan, Poland and Du- bai. Notable was veteran David Galea's performance in Ironman Barcelona. Galea, at age 44 still holds the best time for a Maltese athlete in Ironman races – he has held the record since 1997, when he completed the race in a time of 9 hours 28 minutes in Almere, The Netherlands. In 2015 Galea improved his time to finish the gruelling race in 9 hours 10 min- utes and 33 seconds. Sport Development Whilst participation amongst adults is strong, the Malta Tria- thlon Federation saw the need for attention to be given towards rop- ing in young athletes. The setting up of the Malta Youth Triathlon Academy, with the assistance of the European Triathlon Union (ETU) and Kunsill Malti Ghall- Isports (KMS) in 2013 has seen young athletes being trained by qualified coaches. The Federation has also supported the attendance of three promising triathletes – Shaun Galea, Nina Zammit and Neil Markham at the Triathlon Training Camp in Tiszaujvaros, Hungary. Galea and Zammit took part in the ETU Junior European Cup while Markham fought his way through the ranks of elite athletes in the ITU Junior World Cup. Shaun Galea has been regis- tering excellent improvements in his performance. Galea claimed the Cross Triathlon Champion- ship title for the first time in 2015. 2016 promises to be equally busy for all stakeholders involved. Races have been planned, trips abroad booked, enthusiasm grow- ing stronger. It's definitely going to be anoth- er challenging year for Triathlon in Malta. Fabio Spiteri at Dubai International Triathlon