</s>Mediterranean Games organisers had promised a fiesta and they were as good as their word.

It was a mixture of traditional Catalan music, gospel choirs latino and even techno.

Tarragona 2018 President Josep Felix Ballesteros spoke entirely in Catalan and greeted "brothers and sisters of the Mediterranean".

He also made a clear reference to the refugee crisis in his speech.

International Mediterranean Games Committee (ICMG) President Amar Addadi told the crowd "These moments we have spent together in Tarragona have been fabulous.

"There is a gold medal for all the towns which have staged these Games.’"

It fell to him to formally declare the Games closed.

"I invite the sporting family of the Mediterranean to come together in Oran in 2021," he he said.

Just as at the Opening Ceremony, proceedings began with the entry of Tarracus, the Games mascot, or to be precise nine of them, all decorated with different designs in the brightest colours.

Throughout the preceding week , they had been on display at locations around Tarragona.

One even greeted visitors to the covered market in the city centre.

A single volunteer entered with the red and yellow city flag of Tarragona to Catalan music by So Nat Grallers de Tarragona- performers on the tradition Gralles - wind instruments - and Timbal - drum.

Mayor Ballesteros said groups of Castellers - the local tradition of building human towers - had been invited to take part "but they did not want to do so because they did not want to perform in a football stadium’".

Even so , there was more Catalan culture to come.

Two dancers Marina Rodriguez and Lautaro Reyes dressed all in white then took centre stage for Santanova, the music of Santi Arisa which fused traditional Catalan elements with contemporary styles.

Then came the formal part of the Ceremony.

The opening bars of the Olympic anthem by Spiros Samaras rang around the Stadium as the flag bearers, led according to tradition by Greece, took their places on the centre stage followed by the remainder of the athletes.

Their arrival was televised in the live broadcast.

The organisers here were not likely to make the same mistake as Commonwealth Games organisers in the Gold Coast who scheduled the arrival of the athletes before the live television programme began.

As they entered , the athletes danced to the music of DJs Albert Neve and Abel Ramos performing on the decks.

This was an idea first used at the 2004 Olympics in Athens when it was DJ Tiesto who mixed the music

The Portuguese seemed particulary taken with the thumping sounds and had to be moved on by a stage manager, but they started a trend, the Cypriots, then Monaco and the Italians all wanted their photo.

What the International Olympic Committee would have thought back in the days of President Avery Brundage is anyone’s guess.

Competitors then were forbidden to have cameras.

Here, one of the Algerians even had a tablet.

The Algerians paused to greet the party from 2021 host city Oran, all watching from the grandstand.

If there is one shortcoming to the Mediterranean Games ceremonial, it is that it lacks a symbol with quite the impact of the Olympic Flame.

It did have one in the early years when an Amphora of Sea water was relayed to the Games to set a fountain in motion for the duration.

Perhaps there is case for reviving the ritual? ’

"It would be the decision of the [Local] Organising Committee," said Addadi.

"We have customs related to the concept of water.

"The water from different countries pour into the Mediterranean and this is something we have used as a metaphor."

"This is the Age of Aquarius," sang the Barcelona Gospel messengers as the theme of the waters of the Med was continued.

The Games flag bearing three interlocked white rings on a pale blue background was slowly lowered to the strains of a march written by Antoni Torrent, Professor of Music at the Conservatori de Musica de la Diputacio in Tarragona.

It was trooped to the centre of the Stadium by of the Guardia Urbana de Gala wearing full ceremonial uniform.

There it was passed from Mayor Ballesteros to ICMG President Amar Addadi.

Finally it was presented to the Mayor of Oran, Noureddine Boukhatem, who told the crowd, "My friends of the Mediterranean I invite you to Oran Salaam alaikum."

Images of preparations in the Algerian city filled the giant screen with a message "Welcome to Oran".

Addadi insisted, "We are extremely happy with the metamorphosis that the city has undergone."

There was time for a performance by the Tribu Urbana, a school for Urban dance and then some mysterious figures appeared wearing hooded caps.

They soon threw these off to reveal themselves as Brodas Bros, a hip hop ensemble in costumes bedecked with LED lights which changed colours by turn.

Singer Alvaro Soler led the grand finale, the volunteers ran on to the field to lead the dancing.

Many in the crowd waved flashlights in time to the music and Tarracus the mascot even led a conga.

It was that sort of evening.</s>However, they expect the International Committee for the Mediterranean Games (ICMG) to "look closely" at the scheduling of future Games at their next Congress in Lisbon.

"The fact of having the Games at the same time as the World Cup was something that had been discussed, but the people who are interested in these kind of Games are not the same as the spectators for the World Cup," Tarragona 2018 executive director Victor Sanchez told insidethegames.

"We shall look at all this when we have the ICMG Congress.

"The future of the Mediterranean Games, which way they should be going, but also the concurrency with other big events in world sport.

"These are the things that we have to analyse."

Local newspapers have been very critical of poor attendances and have published pictures of empty buses and empty stadia.

But Sanchez believes the Organising Committee's hands were tied after a deal was struck with the Ticketmaster agency.

"It is really difficult to try to promote them [tickets] more because we function as an administrative power and we have submitted to the regulations of the European Union," he said.

"Once we had launched the tender and it had been handed to a company in charge of selling tickets, they are in charge of selling the tickets."

As with most Games, a small proportion of the available tickets have been kept for contingencies by the Organising Committee.

"What we can do is, the part of the tickets that can still be owned by us, because there is a part at each competition, those tickets can be distributed to sports associations or the municipalities," said Sanchez.

There were large swathes of empty seats at the Nou Estadi for the Opening Ceremony last week, leading to particular criticism of the Organising Committee.

Tarragona 2018 commissioner Javier Villamayor revealed that some 5,000 Closing Ceremony tickets would be given away to groups such as firefighters, police, medics and other volunteer groups which have helped run the Games.

"We plan to recognise volunteers at the Closing Ceremony," he said.

He promised that the Closing Ceremony on Sunday (July 1) will be a "fiesta" to be enjoyed by the entire community.</s>Cyprus Cyclist Andri Christoforou won a Bronze medal in the Tarragona Mediterranean Games which conclude on Sunday.

This is the first time Cyprus secures a medal in cycling in Mediterranean Games. Christoforou’s result was 25:12.10.

In statements Andri expressed her happiness for the medal and said that now she will start training for the World Championship in September.

So far Cyprus has won 4 Gold medals, 2 Silver and 2 Bronze.</s>Turkey came third in the 18th Mediterranean Games which finished Sunday in the Spanish city of Tarragona, with 31 gold, 25 silver and 39 bronze medals.

Turkey earned at least one gold medal in almost each category in which its athletes competed, with eight gold medals earned in wrestling and six golds in weightlifting, counting both male and female athletes.

Italy ranked first with 56 gold, 55 silver and 45 bronze medals. Host country Spain ranked second with 38 gold, 40 silver and 44 bronze medals. France and Egypt took fourth and fifth places, respectively. Twenty-six countries participated in this year's games.

Some of Turkey's standout athletes included world champion sprinter Ramil Guliyev, who broke the 35-year record with 20.15 seconds to win the gold in the men's 200 meters. The record was set by Italian sprinter Pietro Mennea at the 1983 Games in Casablanca.

For men's Greco-Roman style wrestling, Metehan Başar and Yunus Emre Başar both won gold. Ahmet Bilici and Selahattin Kılıçsallayan took home the gold in men's freestyle. For women's wrestling, Evin Demirhan, Bediha Gün, Elif Jale Yeşilırmak and Buse Tosun won gold in each of their categories.

Others who took home the gold included Kayra Sayit in judo, Ece Öztürk in bocce, paralympian Zübeyde Süpürgeci in women's 800m T54 race and Başak Eraydın-Ipek Öz in tennis doubles.

Inaugurated in Egypt in 1951, the Mediterranean Games are held every four years between countries around or close to the Mediterranean Sea.

Turkey hosted the event twice; in 1971 in western Izmir province and in 2013 in southern Mersin province.</s>VOLLEYBALL: The Greek national teams made quite an impact at the Mediterranean Games in Tarragona, Spain, as the women’s team finished second while the men were third for their first medal in the competition in 35 years. The Greek women matched their best ever showing in 2005 at Almeria, as on Sunday they landed the silver medal going down 3-1 to Croatia in the final.

WATER POLO: The Greek men’s national water polo team succumbed in the final of the Mediterranean Games in Tarragona, Spain, on Sunday to Serbia in the penalty shootout. After a 8-8 draw in regulation time, the Greeks lost 12-10 in the tie-breaker to compromise for the silver medal. The women's team ended up third.

BASKETBALL: Italian coach Luca Banchi signed a one-year contract with Basketball Champions League and Greek Cup holder AEK, as the Athens club announced on Sunday.</s>This was confirmed by International Committee for the Mediterranean Games President Amar Addadi here today.

The substance is believed to have been furosemide, a diuretic used to assist weight loss which is included in the World Anti Doping Agency's (WADA) list of prohibited substances.

"The athlete recognised she had used it and did not deny it at any time, WADA has been informed," said Addadi.

"As she has left Tarragona we have written to the National Olympic Committee asking them to return the medal."

Draskovic had lost to Turkey's Tuba Yakan in the final of the under-55 kilograms here at Tarragona 2018.

The bronze medallists were Sara Cardin of Italy and Sabrina Ouihaddadene of France, but no decision has yet been taken on whether to reassign the medals.

"The next step is to ask the International Federation what action they will take," said Addadi.

Some 400 tests have been carried out across the Games, and Addadi insisted: "The doping work work has been done very well.

"We are working very closely with WADA and the NOCs and this has been the only positive test."</s>Can Philippines take their 18th gold in the 2017 SEA games?</s>They beat hosts Spain to win in the heart of the city, 25-22, 25-17, 33-35, 25-23.

The Italians won the first two sets and then the crowd were treated to a monumental third in which Italy had the chance to close out the gold medal.

The two sides were locked together until Spain finally broke the deadlock to win it.

If the home crowd thought this was to be the start of a recovery, they were to be disappointed.

Italy closed out the final set and it could be the start of a great year, as they prepare to co-host the World Championships with Bulgaria.

A lively crowd in the Tarraco Arena Placa made for a wonderful atmosphere in a huge indoor stadium once used for bullfighting.

There were plenty of youngsters and cheerleaders in the stands, while volunteers tossed snacks in the intervals between the sets.

Officials and reporters at courtside often found themselves in danger as the balls flew around.

In men's handball at the Palau Désports at Campclar, it was another wonderful contest for gold.

Tunisia led at the interval but Croatia came back to win 24-23.

It was more straightforward in the bronze medal match as Spain beat Turkey 30-19.

Over at the pool, Serbia beat Greece 12-10 to win the men's water polo final.

Earlier, Montenegro had beaten Spain 6-4 to claim the bronze

The final day crowds will no doubt come as a relief to organisers who had faced criticism for the small attendances at some competitions earlier in the week.

"I don't think there was anyone in our territory that didn't know that the Games were taking place," said Tarragona Mayor and Organising Committee President Josep Felix Ballesteros.

"There has been growing interest in the final phases of competition.

"I have seen some stadiums that were empty and others that were fuller.

"It is unfair to compare the capacity of drawing the public in a city the size of Tarragona with other bigger cities."
The closing ceremony of the 18th Mediterranean Games in Tarragona, Spain, takes place.