­Positive surprise as men’s team land silver

Maltese judokas ended their commitments at the 2013 GSSE with another commendable showing in the team competition.

Jeremy Saywell, Murman Korchilava and Isaac Bezzina clinched a silver medal after succumbing to Luxembourg in a close final while Marcon Bezzina, Joanna Camilleri and Vanessa Fraser battled to bronze.

The day’s highlight for Malta was in the men’s event where our judokas came agonisingly close to a stunning victory.

Saywell, Korchilava and Bez-zina were off to a flyer after brushing aside the challenge of Cyprus in a clear 3-0 victory.

Next up for them was a tough semi-final against Iceland, silver medallists in the team event two years ago in Liechtenstein.

The Maltese refused to be overawed though as they put on a great showing with Korchilava grabbing the all-important victory to seal a 2-1 win.

In the final, Saywell prevailed in his bout but Korchilava lost, leaving Bezzina facing a decider for the gold medal.

The young judoka produced a brave showing but it was not enough to deny the hosts another gold medal.

“This silver medal means a lot to us,” Isaac Bezzina told The Times of Malta.

“All the members in our team had to compete in a heavier category and that made our task even more difficult. However, our good start against Cyprus gave us a huge confidence boost and we never looked back.

“Our victory over Iceland was also special as we faced two high-level opponents. Unfortunately we couldn’t finish the job but that takes nothing away from our achievement.”

The silver medal was Bezzina’s second in the GSSE after taking bronze in the U-90 category on Tuesday. That means that he has one medal more than his father and coach Alex Bezzina, a silver medallist in Cyprus 1989, but Isaac only had praise for his mentor.

“I may have won more GSSE medals than him but it’s nothing compared to the contribution he has given to my career and the sport in general in recent years,” Bezzina said.

“My father has been an inspirational figure for me... without his support I would not be here competing for my country.”

In the women’s competition, featuring four teams, Marcon Bezzina, Fraser and Camilleri were up against favourites Luxembourg.

They could not match the class of the hosts and eventual winners, who had Olympian Marie Muller in their ranks, as Malta bowed to a 3-0 defeat.

However, the girls fought back in the bronze medal play-off against Monaco with Bez-zina getting the all-important win to seal a 2-1 victory. Liechtenstein got the silver medal.

“It was hard-earned but de-served,” Marcon Bezzina said.

“We knew that the match against Luxembourg was going to be very tough as we faced three very strong judokas who compete in a higher weight category.

“But, in the final, we gave it our all and I’m delighted to have gained the all-important win that secured us third place.”