Sanela Brkan and Gracija Stjepčević will compete for bronze medals tomorrow in the precision shooting event at the 20th Mediterranean Games in Taranto.
After reaching the final four, Stjepčević will face Slovenia’s Jaka Stremfel in the bronze medal contest, while Brkan will take on France’s Anaele Barazutti, one of the world’s leading competitors in the discipline.
“It was difficult in the semi-final. I lost by one boule, and I also had a weaker start to the match. Tomorrow I face the Slovenian competitor; it will be difficult, and just like today, the opening of the match could prove decisive,” Stjepčević said.
Brkan emphasised that reaching the final four at the Mediterranean Games represents a significant achievement, but that she still has another opportunity to win a medal.
“I made it into the top four at the Games, which is a great achievement both for me and for the national team. I had a good opportunity in the semi-final and did not take it, but tomorrow I have another one. It will be difficult, as my opponent has won many gold medals,” Brkan said.
Milenković seventh in the 100m butterfly — After finishing eighth in the 50m butterfly final, Miloš Milenković today took seventh place in the 100m butterfly with a time of 53.07.
“I went out too hard, with 24.11 over the first 50 metres, while in the second 50 I was literally fighting to hold on. I can be satisfied because I gave everything I had. I will continue to be as disciplined and focused as possible on what lies ahead, because this is a sport that does not forgive mistakes,” Milenković said.
The competition in Taranto brought the season to an end for the 21-year-old Montenegrin swimmer.
“I will work on my start, turns and focus during the race. I hope that in the future I will represent Montenegro even better,” Milenković added.
Coach Danijela Franeta was satisfied with his performance at the Mediterranean Games.
“It feels a little unreal to be talking about these things, but this is now the reality. The job was done well. Miloš was first at the turn after 50 metres and controlled the race well, but I have to point out that this was his third race in the past eight days, including the European Championships, where everything came down to tenths of a second. That is extremely demanding,” Franeta said.
Berišaj sisters stopped in the quarter-finals — Anđela and Andrea Berišaj completed their appearances in the taekwondo tournament at the quarter-final stage. Andrea was defeated 2:0 by Nada Laaraj, while Anđela lost by the same score to Ana Valdés Zurdo.
“Defeat hurts, especially when you are fighting for a medal. It was so close, yet so far. I felt tired; mentally I was ready, but my body did not respond. Once I have peace of mind and manage to connect my body with that as well, things will be better. You always have to come out of defeats in the same way you come out of victories,” Andrea Berišaj said.
Taekwondo national team coach Vlado Stanišić said that a more detailed analysis of their performances would follow after the competition.
“It is too early to give specific impressions because we need to carry out an analysis to establish the reasons for the underperformance. I think we are quite tired. We have not even completed our basic preparations for the next half of the season. The timing of the Mediterranean Games was difficult, but we nevertheless chose to participate. All of this is part of sport and we have to deal with situations like these,” Stanišić said.
Montenegro’s padel team continues with mixed doubles tomorrow — Montenegro padel team members Ivanka Simonović and Jelena Matijević were defeated in the women’s doubles by the favoured Spanish pair, 6:1, 6:0.
“It is an honour and a pleasure to have been given the opportunity to compete at the Mediterranean Games. We played against some of the best players in the world and lost, but we gave our maximum. We move on, and tomorrow we have the mixed doubles against Kosovo. I believe we can achieve a better result,” Simonović said.
PHOTO and VIDEO gallery – Team MNE @ Taranto 2026 – https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjD2GR8
