The second day of competition for Montenegrin athletes at the Games of the Small States of Europe, held in Malta, was marked by sailors. Milivoj Dukic and Ilija Markovic, after today's four regattas, a total of five, hold the first two places - Dukic is the leader, with Markovic right behind him. "The day with four regattas, which is unusual, was challenging but also good for what awaits us in the rest of the season. I made some mistakes in certain parts of the regatta, but there is still a lot of sailing to be done, and we continue forward. There was more wind, and the quality crystallized. Ilija and I are dominant compared to the others, it was evident today," said Dukic. Sailors are expected to have four regattas tomorrow as well, with the first one starting at 3 p.m. The expected victory was achieved by our women's basketball team. With a lot of oscillations, just like in the premiere against Luxembourg (64:52), Montenegro defeated the host Malta 59:42. There was no doubt about the winner; against the team that was convincing in yesterday's match against Cyprus (82:58), the "red" team controlled the game from the beginning, although it is obvious that there is still a lot of room for improvement and work to be done until June 15 when the European Championship begins. In the Montenegrin team, the most efficient players were Milica Jovanovic with 14, Marija Lekovic with 11, and Bozica Mujovic with ten points. "In the beginning, we got nervous because we missed literally 12 easy shots. Later, we found our rhythm, and with defence, we gained an advantage that we maintained until the end," said coach Jelena Skerovic. Montenegro will play against Cyprus on Thursday at 12:15. Montenegrin basketball players were unexpectedly defeated by Malta in their second match of the tournament. Carried by the support of the fans, in a beautiful atmosphere and a nearly packed arena, with some favouritism but not decisive, the host outplayed the combined Montenegrin team - 78:66. From the start of the match, this outcome was foreshadowed. The "Reds" had a poor start, missing open shots (2/17 from three-point range in the first 20 minutes), while the opponent consistently led, with a maximum advantage of six points. Montenegro turned the score in their favour to 33:31 a minute and a half before halftime, but the host team, with a three-pointer from Washington, who scored 14 points in the first two quarters, went into halftime with a score of 38:36. A reaction was expected, but the home team played the rest of the match with much more energy and enthusiasm. In the third period, Malta completely dominated with a series of impressive plays and successful three-pointers, while on the other side, Montenegro continued to miss shots from all positions, resulting in a 13-point deficit of 62:49 before the final 10 minutes. There was no comeback, and the Maltese celebrated a significant victory, one of their biggest, perhaps the biggest in history... The most efficient and the only player with double-digit points in the Montenegrin team was Nenad Vukovic with 24 points. Montenegro will play against Cyprus on Friday at 14:30. The women's rugby team of Montenegro made their debut and achieved their first victory. After a 31:0 defeat against Malta, the rugby players defeated Luxembourg 15:7, but in the end of the first day, they lost to Andorra 15:7. On Friday, they will compete against Luxembourg for the bronze medal. Our shooters Anđela Miličković and Nevena Šaranović reached the final of the 10-meter air pistol discipline but did not win a medal. Miličković finished in fourth place, scoring 180.6 points in the final round, while Šaranović finished sixth with 143.4 points. The men's table tennis team consisting of Filip Radović and Filip Radulović won against Andorra 3:0 today, but due to two defeats yesterday against Malta (3:1) and Luxembourg (3:1), they have no chance to compete for a medal. The women's table tennis team also failed to reach the semifinals, after losing on the first day of the tournament to Monaco (3:0) and Malta (3:0).
