Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/783519
maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 8 FEBRUARY 2017 23 Sport Answers to the MaltaToday crossword will be published next Wednesday WEATHER: Partly cloudy becoming rather cloudy with isolated showers by evening VISIBILITY: Good except in showers WIND: Northwest force 4 to 5 at first, decreasing to force 3 to 4 and becoming Southwest force 2 to 3 by afternoon SEA: Rough becoming moderate 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. PARTLY CLOUDY 16 º C / 10 º C UV INDEX: 2 Today's Weather Chess Sudoku Pursuits Across 1. Carry on a legal prosecution 8. Summed 9. Growl angrily 10. Evening meal 12. Duct for smoke 14. Additional 15. Intense dislike 17. Language 18. Pertaining to a particular place 20. Carry Down 2. Slender bar 3. Capital of New South Wales 4. Snug 5. Film excerpt 6. Fax 7. Northumberland town 11. Associate 13. Ride at full speed 16. Before long 19. Automobile Rd5+ Kf6 Bd4# WEIGHTLIFTING THE Malta weightlifting Associa- tion started the year with an excep- tional showing at the first competi- tion last Sunday. Numerous athletes showcased their efforts, with many personal best lifts and a massive 42 total national records being broken. The under 13 athletes were the first group to take the platform, with the best result coming from the young but impressively confi- dent Rylee Borg. Borg finished with a total of 137 points followed by Kyle Camilleri and Nikolai Muscat obtaining a total of 129 points and 77 points respectively. In the women's youth and juniors category the best results for the day came from Shazel Gusman. She lifted a total of 125kg and scored 152 points, breaking 16 national re- cords in both youth and junior divi- sions in the process. Even though stilll only a youth, Gusman managed to obtain a top three finish against the senior com- petitors on the day. She was fol- lowed by Rebecca Fitz lifting 113kg and breaking five national records and Shelby Vassallo with the total of 98kg breaking another five na- tional records. Yazmin Zammit Stevens man- aged the best result for the women's senior division, lifting competition best of 170kg, scoring 218 points and setting another three national records. Zammit Stevens was fol- lowed by an increasingly improv- ing Elisia Scicluna with the total of 156kg and a score of 185 points. Scicluna also managed to write her name in the national records list for the first time with an impressive five total national records. The best showing of the day came from the youngster Kieran Mifsud lifting the biggest total ever record- ed in Malta with a total of 280kg. Mifsud, still only a junior athlete, finished with a 125kg snatch and 155kg in the clean and jerk. He also managed to set eight new national records with 310 points to his name, an impressive 24 point improve- ment on his previous competition. He was followed by Andy Grech with the total of 198kg and 250 points, and Ryan Degiorgio lifted 149kg and a score of 196points. The men's seniors first place was won again by the 17 year old Ki- eran Mifsud, followed by Kyle Mi- callef lifting the total of 260kg and scoring 306 points and Matthew Camilleri with the total of 242kg and a score of 291 points. Other impressive results came from Connor Buttigieg (214kg), Michael Fava (198kg) and Maxims Dobrovolskis (192kg). This competition was very im- portant for the final selection of the European Small nations in San Marino and the European senior Championships in Croatia. Successful start to weightlifting competition season Elisia Scicluna