A generous number of Maltese lifters competed in the WDFPF World Powerlifting Championships in Glasgow, Scotland. The team consisted of 10 lifters in total namely Nathalie Agius, Ryan Agius, Luke Bonanno, Dylan Callus, Alwyn Cassar, Cleaven Cutajar, Maria Debono, Daniel Debono, Charles Degiorgio, Shawn Farrugia. Firstly, what can we say about TEAM MALTA? The placings achieved by our lifters as we will discuss further on resulted in the team getting 3rd place overall and beating big nations such as America, France, Belgium and Moldova. Even though we are a small nation, we are mighty strong and our athletes are definitely built for this strength sport. This was the second time Malta came 3rd during an international competition. First place was won by Great Britain and second place Italy.
The competition was spread over 2 days; Saturday 3rd and Sunday 4th November with the WDFPF Congress on Friday. During the Congress new rule changes were discussed as well as the upcoming WDFPF calendar 2019. The competition dates and venues are available on the WDFPF website. Two important rule changes were discussed and approved by those present. Firstly, there will now be a 3 hour weigh in instead of a 2 hour weigh in during international competitions. This is not obligatory for national competitions. The second rule change is that for the sumo deadlift, the lifter is allowed to internally rotate his/her feet after the “down” command is given. This will prevent any possible injuries that might happen on the lifter’s feet as the bar goes down after the “down” command. After the Congress, the lifters had an early night in and rested for the day ahead.
Starting with day one, all female lifters and male lifters up to 75kg started off the competition. This meant that Maria Debono, Nathalie Agius, Luke Bonanno, Charles Degiorgio and Shawn Farrugia were up and ready at 7am for registration and weigh in at the Craigholme Sports Complex.
Weighing at 52.8kg, Maria Debono was the first Maltese lifter to compete on Saturday as her flight was the first to go. Debono started off with an easy 95kg squat opener, went on to a 102.5kg and failed her 3rd attempt of 107.5kg due to the bar dipping on the way up. Even though it was a grinder, Debono will surely register this number in her next competition. Onto the bench, Debono pressed a third successful attempt of 65kg, which is both a personal best and a national record for the -53kg category. Debono did not excel in the deadlifts department. She only registered her first attempt at 125kg. She did not manage to lift her second attempt of 137.5kg, and tried it again on the third attempt, however it was red lighted since the bar dipped on the way up. Nevertheless Debono managed to get 2nd place in the -53kg category and came 3rd in her platform out of 15 foreign lifters.
This was the second international competition for Nathalie Agius, after having competed in the European Championships in King’s Lynn this year. Agius bettered her overall total having registered a 92.5kg squat on the second attempt, a 55kg bench press and a 105kg deadlift. Even though the 92.5kg squat was already a personal record for Agius, she grinded another attempt and gave her all for the squat. Unfortunately, she did not manage her final attempt. Agius had a very stacked category as there were 14 other lifters competing in the -63 category. Agius battled through and upped her malone points which means she bettered her position in the national rankings and she is now in fact in the premier division.
Throughout the flight from Malta to Edinburgh, Luke Bonanno was downing litres of water to make the 67.5kg category. This was the first international competition abroad for Bonanno after having competed in the World Squat Single Lifts in Malta last June. At just 16 years of age, Bonanno managed a 150kg squat, 100kg bench press and a 167.5kg deadlift. All these lifts along with the total are national records for the Teenager 2 age category.
Charles Degiorgio weighed at a lean bodyweight of 71kg. He started off his first squat attempt with 200kg, after which he squatted 210kg but was unfortunately red lighted due to depth. He can surely nail this national record in upcoming competitions. Degiorgio went on to bench 120kg and finished off with a 240kg deadlift on the first attempt. Unfortunately the 250kg deadlift wasn’t there on that day, especially since the 210kg squat still took a lot of energy to execute. Nevertheless Degiorgio got 3rd place in the -75kg category.
The -75kg category had two Maltese lifters competing. Shawn Farrugia, who came 4th, did not have the day he planned. He managed to squat 180kg, bench pressed 145kg and pulled a 215kg deadlift. Nonetheless, Farrugia never bench pressed 145kg while weighing at 71.7kg bodyweight. It’s also good to note that this was the first international competition that Farrugia has ever competed in. Surely Farrugia is stronger than the numbers he registered but was unable to show his full strength on competition day. We hope to see his 100% next time on the platform.
After a full day of shouting words of encouragement to one another, it was time for Alwyn Cassar, Daniel Debono, Ryan Agius, Cleaven Cutajar and Dylan Callus to have a good night’s rest and wake up for their big day on Suday.
Alwyn Cassar, having competed in the -100kg category, started off his first international competition on the wrong foot, but managed to pull through and achieve decent numbers throughout his lifts. Cassar registered an easy 170kg squat with more kilograms to spare. He went on to bench press a personal and national record of 110kg and pulled 192.5kg deadlift. Given that Cassar had an injury 3 weeks before competition this was nonetheless an outstanding performance at such a young age of 17 years. Cassar will surely come back with vengeance (and smelling salts) in the next meet.
Another first timer was Daniel Debono who competed in the -82.5kg category. Even though this wasn’t Debono’s best performance he still achieved a good total through a 175kg squat, 120kg bench press and a 192.5kg pull. Debono failed a 200kg deadlift on his 3rd attempt due to hitching. Debono, we are looking forward to watch you pull that 200kg deadlift and more with ease and good form come next competition! You know it’s in you.
During the past few months Ryan Agius dieted down to the -90kg category and achieved better numbers at a lower body weight. Agius registered a 217.5kg squat, 135kg bench press, and 255kg pull. This brings a total of 607.5kg which meant that Agius bettered his position in the national rankings as his total automatically gave him greater schwartz points. Agius failed a 265kg deadlift due to a technicality, however he was still strong enough to rip it off the floor and lock it. All the numbers registered by Agius were all personal records. The question is: will we be seeing Agius in the -90kg category or will he take up the challenge and see him in lighter categories?
Cleaven Cutajar weighed at 129kg bodyweight which means he competed in the -145kg category. Even though this wasn’t his best performance he still managed good numbers. Cutajar squatted 220kg and got red lighted for depth on his 2nd attempt of 235kg. He tried the 235kg again for a third attempt, however it wasn’t in him. Cutajar went on to press 150kg and narrowly failed the 160kg on the 2nd and 3rd attempts. Despite these shortcomings, Cutajar did have a good performance in the deadlift, where he registered lifts of 240kg, 260kg and 270kg. We are surely positive to see this lifter compete on the powerlifting platform bettering his results in the process.
One paragraph is not even enough to describe Dylan Callus’ performance, so do excuse us for having to write a chunky one for this lad. Callus competed in the -125kg category. He started off with a fairly easy 250.5kg squat which was already a European record in the Junior age category. He went on to break his own record on the second and third attempt with 265kg and 272.5kg respectively. He did not go for a fourth attempt as he wanted to preserve energy for the bench and deadlift. Callus started off with a shaky start in the bench press due a technicality. He repeated the same weight of 170kg for his second attempt, and went on for the world record of 181.5kg. After having a successful third attempt, he proceeded with a fourth attempt, again breaking his own record with 185kg world record bench press. Callus was hungry for more records come deadlifts. He started with a conservative 300kg attempt, went on to break the European record with 320.5kg and a third attempt of 330kg. Callus wanted to give it his all and tried a 338kg world record deadlift as a fourth attempt. He very narrowly failed at lock out but he was only given three minute rest between this attempt and his third one. Callus registered the biggest total of the 160 lifters present in the competition and also the biggest total in the history of Maltese powerlifting with a huge 782.5kg. This total gave a 4th place to Callus from the male lifters from the whole competition, bettered the Schwartz points for Callus with a whopping 410 points and also came 1st in both the Junior and Open -125kg Category.
The Malta Drug-Free Powerlifting association would like to thank Scotland for hosting us, the British Drug-Free Powerlifting Association and the World Drug-Free Powerlifting Federation on organising such a successful competition and for keeping this sport as cheat free as possible. The Malta Powerlifting would also like to congratulate all the lifters who represented Malta for achieving such great results. We would like to remind you that our next and final competition for the year is our very first National Single Lift Event happening on the 2nd December at the Birgu Youth Centre (next to the police station). Families and friends are encouraged to come and support for free, while anyone interested to compete in the Single Event is more than encouraged to contact us and register his/her name. Come and show us your numbers on that platform. Sunday 2nd December. See you!
Of course the competitions organised by the Malta Powerlifting cannot be held without the great help of our sponsors: REMAX Malta, and Body Medics Gym in Żejtun. If you’re looking for a hospitable place to train in the South, look no further than Body Medics Gym.