This column is back after a short break due to my commitments in two respective FIBA European Promotion Cups, the first one (Senior Women) in Malta and the other (Under 17 Boys), just two days following the first one, in Andorra.

This week I will put forward my views on Malta’s participation in these two tournaments and the general environment in both these official European tournaments.

This year, there were four European Promotion Cups, two for senior men and women respectively and two for Under 17 boys and girls respectively.

Malta took part in the men’s senior games held in Albania in June where I had the opportunity to be also present as a referee. However no Maltese team took part in the under 17 girls tournament held in Luxembourg and won by Scotland.

Starting with the women’s games held in Malta, seven countries took part in this competition with all matches played in Ta’ Qali.

Malta ended in a credible fourth place, although this position could have easily been third or even second had the locals shown more consistency and physical staying power, especially in the latter stages of the games.

The locals were drawn in Group B together with Scotland, Andorra and Wales. The first game was against the latter and Malta won easily 77-47 with all players put on court and scoring points and having Kirsten Micallef as top scorer with 16 points.

On the following day, Malta faced Andorra and the locals made sure of a semi-final berth by winning 76-51 with all players again entering the court and Josephine Grima dominating the boards and scoring 18 points.

Scotland, who also won the opening two matches, were the next opponents and a win here would have made a possible final pace more probable.

Malta was superior in the opening half having a 36-26 lead midway into the match but then passed through a negative patch early in the last period and could not regain the lead for a 64-71 loss.

This meant that Malta had to face Group A winners, Luxembourg, in the cross semi-finals. The odds were totally against Malta but the latter played very well and were level at 30-30 at half time. The game remained balanced with a single basket separating the two teams two minutes from the end, yet Malta missed the last offensive plays whilst Luxembourg did not and the latter won 65-60 (Grima had 21 points).

On the last day of the tournament, Malta were quite devastated psychologically (following their minimal losses in the previous two days) and had to face Moldova (the most improved team in the tournament) for the bronze medal game.

Although ending the first period 20-17 head, Malta succumbed to Moldova’s long range shooting and was 52-66 behind after 30 minutes of play. Despite playing better in the last 10 minutes, the win still went Moldova’s way 81-75.

Looking at the accumulated tournament statistics, Grima averaged 17.2 points per game (third best of the tournament with Moldavian Olga Cazac topping the list with 21 points) whilst Doreen Galea played the most minutes (162 minutes in total) and had most assists (23). As a team, Malta shot at 41.7% for field goals and at 32.9% from the 3-point range. As for free throws, Malta had a low 55.2%especially when the locals, had by far, the most free throws in the championships (a 134 total, 28 more than the second team)

Grima and Galea had the best field goal percentage (53% and 52& respectively) in the whole tournament.

Unfortunately Malta was the team that committed most fouls with a 124 total.

Overall, the performance was satisfactory and there is good potential for the future, especially if the young element continue working under coach Santino Coppa’s programmes.

On a personal note, I had the opportunity to referee four games in these championships and was also entrusted to referee the final game where Luxembourg beat a resilient and tough Scottish side 54-49. In the previous days I had refereed Luxembourg-Moldova 55-45, Scotland-Wales 100-36, and Luxembourg-Gibraltar 111-46.

Just a day later I was in Andorra where Malta also took part in the under 17 boys’ championships. Eight countries took part here and Malta was drawn in Group A with Cyprus, Monaco and Andorra.

Malta faced a tough start when they faced Cyprus on the opening day and lost 62-35. It was a tough baptism for the lads who were all experiencing their first game outside our islands.

However their game improved a day after when they convincingly beat hosts Andorra 69-56 with tall centre Samuel Deguara (a 15 year old who stands over 215cms) scoring 19 points.

The semi-final berth was decided on the third day when Malta started on a high note against Monaco, only to suffer a late comeback but then scoring vital points in the last minute so as to win 58-55 with Deguara netting 21 points.

This was a great win for the locals as it maybe surpassed all their expectations before starting these championships.

Luxembourg, who were the best prepared side physically, were too strong for Malta in the semi-final and the 108-33 score line reflects this, even though Malta played in a very relaxed mode.

The bronze medal opponents were Cyprus and despite Malta’s efforts, the former still won 59-42. The 4th final placing is, however, very encouraging and the future looks encouraging if these players continue showing the same will and determination to improve and coach Bruno Dipietroantonio’s tactics and physical preparation demands are followed by all the national men teams.

In Andorra I was not the only local international referee present. Together with me there was Gordon Barbara. The latter refereed the games Monaco-Andorra 75-59, Cyprus-Monaco 74-55, Andorra-Wales 70-68 and the 7th-8th placing game Wales-Monaco 57-54. In my case I refereed the group games Scotland-San Marino 88-50, Luxembourg-Scotland 67-50 (this was the eventual final and thus I was out of the reckoning for this last game as usually one does not referee the same two teams twice in a championship) and San Marino-Monaco 76-59 as well as the 5th-6th placing game san Marino-Andorra 71-67.

This concludes an eventful two months for the local basketball federation and now they will start thinking on next year’s European Under 19 championships in Wales and Armenia respectively.