The 2019 Games of the Small States of Europe started yesterday with Cyprus one of the nine participating countries.
The 18th edition of the Games takes place in Budva, Montenegro from 27 May to 1 June 2019.
A total of 140 athletes from Cyprus will participate in athletics, basketball, boules, judo, shooting, swimming, table tennis, tennis, volleyball and beach volleyball.
The participating countries are Andorra, Cyprus, Malta, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Monaco, Montenegro and San Marino. Among the participants, Cyprus is the only country with a population of over one million people
Cyprus is second in the all-time medal table behind Iceland, as the Nordic country has more gold medals (479 VS 468). However Cyprus has more medals in total (1220 VS 1204).
Iceland was the top nation in nine editions of the Games, Cyprus was top in six and Luxembourg was top nation twice. The competition has been taking place every two years since 1985.
Cyprus hosted the Games twice, in 1989 and 2009.
Two victories for Cyprus on opening day
The Games started well for Cyprus as its women’s volleyball and beach volleyball teams recorded two wins against Iceland.
The duo of Zachaiou and Charalambous beat the Icelandic team with 3-0 sets in volleyball while Mariota and Zoi recorded a 2-0 victory in beach volleyball.
