Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/973467
maltatoday WEDNESDAY 25 APRIL 2018 Sport 20 THE annual weightlifting Euro- pean Small Nations tournament is set to take place this weekend in Reykjavik, Iceland. The com- petition will see teams from Cy- prus, San Marino, Iceland and other small nations challenge Malta's top team on Saturday. Vlad Baldacchino, Matthew Camilleri and Rodmar Pulis will be representing Malta from the men's side while common- wealth Games 7th place finisher Yazmin Zammit Stevens along with Elisia Scicluna and Shelby Mangion Vassallo will be repre- senting for the women. This team will be one of the strongest Malta has ever sent over to a small nations tourna- ment. Home team Iceland have not yet announced their official team, however they are known to have some of the world's best crossfit athletes with very strong backgrounds in weight- lifting. Safe to say they will be bringing their best athletes to the meet, and are ready to put on a show. This competition will be a very important one for our ath- letes as it is the last opportunity to qualify for the Mediterra- nean Games set to take place in Tarragona this June. Yazmin Zammit Stevens has already met the qualifying total, while both Elisia Scicluna and Vlad Baldacchino are within a few kilos of doing so. The meet will also be a very important part of Shelby Mangion Vas- sallo's preparation for the youth Olympic Games towards the end of this year. The team will be accompanied by national team coach and president of the MWA Jesmond Caruana. The newly elected Vice-president of the Commonwealth weight- lifting federation flew in from Gold Coast earlier to continue his athletes' preparation for this meet. SPORTTODAY WEIGHTLIFTING FOOTBALL Malta weightlifting team to compete at The European Small Nations Tournament in Iceland European Small Nations Team. Rodmar Pulis, Vlad Baldacchino, Yazmin Zammit Stevens, Elisia Scicluna, Shelby Mangion Vassallo, Matthew Camilleri, Jesmond Caruana Former France manager Henri Michel dies aged 70 FORMER France manager Henri Michel, who guided the national team to an Olympic gold medal and third place in the World Cup, has died at the age of 70, the French Football Fed- eration announced yesterday. Michel managed the team that won gold at the Los Angeles Olympics in 1984. Under him, France made the semi-finals of the World Cup in Mexico two years later where they lost 2-0 to West Germany before beating Belgium 4-2 to seal third place. As a player, Michel made over 500 appear- ances for French side Nantes and won three league titles in a 16-year career with them. He was also capped 58 times by the national team between 1967-80 and scored four goals. Michel was in charge of three more teams that played in the World Cup, managing Cam- eroon (1994), Morocco (1998) and Ivory Coast (2006). His last assignment was with Kenya in 2012.