The Maltese contingent has started to trickle into Tokyo as Covid-19 regulations stipulate that athletes have been instructed to arrive no earlier five days prior to their competition and leave no later than two days after their event concludes. Badminton player Matthew Abela was the first to arrive and has already training. He was followed by shooter Eleanor Bezzina and earlier on this morning swimmers Andrew Chetcuti and Sasha Gatt with their coach Artem Goncharenko arrived at the village.  The remaining athletes are expected to arrive by the end of the week. The tentative schedule for competitions are as follows:- Sunday 25^th July Badminton 1240hrs          Men’s Singles                                 Matthew Abela vs Shi Yu Q (CHN) Shooting 0900hrs         10m Air Pistol Qualifications     Eleanor Bezzina Swimming 2039hrs         400m Heats                                    Sasha Gatt Monday 26^th July Swimming 2032hrs        1500m heats                                    Sasha Gatt Tuesday 27^th July Weightlifting 1150hrs          64kgs                                                Yazmin Zammit Stevens Swimming        1900hrs         100m heats                                      Andrew Chetcuti  Thursday 29^th July Shooting 0900hrs        25m Pistol Qualifications             Eleanor Bezzina Friday 30^th July Athletics 0900hrs         100m Heats                                     Carla Scicluna All above times are local and are subject to last minute changes Chef de Mission Dr Lucienne Attard explained that although the strict measures in place have limited the interaction between athletes, this has not dampened the overall anticipation of competition and the spirit amongst the Maltese contingent is high. The Opening Ceremony is scheduled to take place on Friday 23^rd July at 2000hrs at the Olympic Stadium. The Maltese Flag will be carried by Shooter Eleanor Bezzina and Swimmer Andrew Chetcuti who both have competed in previous Olympic Games. Times quoted above are local (Tokyo) times.