Malta’s Men U16 Water Polo Team and Katrina Micallef (Sailing) are the winners of the Atlas Youth Athlete of the Month Award for June.

Malta’s Men U16 Water Polo Team participated in the World Aquatics U-16 Championship, which was held in Malta between the 18th and 24th of June. This tournament featured young talents from around the globe and the Maltese youths showed dedication and determination to secure the 17th place in the World Championship.

Playing in Group H, the Maltese youths started with overwhelmingly defeating Kazakhstan 16-6 but then lost against Romania 12-11 and Greece 8-4. In the classification matches, the Maltese team won against South Africa 16-9, Türkiye 8-4, and Israel 11-8.

Meanwhile, Katrina Micallef, aged 16, won a historic bronze medal for Malta at the ILCA 4 World Championship, held in Portugal, between the 22nd and 30th of June.

Micallef triumphed in a field of 150 athletes representing 45 nations in the girls’ category.

Dutch sailors Hieke Schraffordt and Feline van Ede dominated the regatta as they took the top two berths in the standings. Micallef filled the final spot on the podium with 63 points ahead of Italy’s highly rated sailor Clara Lorenzi. This success for Katrina Micallef followed extensive winter preparation, allowing her to do well despite unfavourable weather conditions.

Matthew von Brockdorff, Managing Director and CEO of Atlas Insurance, together with Robert Micallef, Chief Commercial Officer, presented the Atlas Youth Athlete of the Month Award to the winners. The Malta Sports Journalists Association was represented by by Administrator Stephen Azzopardi.

This award is a joint initiative of the Malta Sports Journalists Association and Atlas Insurance. The adjudicating panel of this award takes note of all the youths’ national and international achievements of the month under review, and at the same time, it invites local sport associations and federations to send in their nominations for consideration if they feel that any of their under-21 athletes have distinguished themselves during that month. All the monthly winners are eligible for the annual award.

Nominations for this award may be sent via email to info@maltasportsjournalists.com. The rules and regulations of this award can be viewed through the link https://www.maltasportsjournalists.com/atlas-youth-athlete-of-the-month-rules-and-regulations/

Photo caption: From left: Stephen Azzopardi (MSJA’s Administrator), Matthew von Brockdorff (Managing Director and CEO of Atlas Insurance) Zack Dzanovic (Malta Men’s U16 Captain), Jonathan Valletta (Malta Men’s U16 Coach), Karl Izzo (Aquatic Sports Association of Malta’s President) and Robert Micallef (Chief Commercial Officer of Atlas Insurance).