Malta Basketball Association president Magistrate Tonio Mizzi was full of praise for the Under 18 girls side which won promotion a few days ago after some fine performances at the Ta’ Qali pavilion last week.

They beat all opposition to win the Women’s Division C tournament finishing on top with eight points. They were followed by Andorra, Monaco, Luxembourg and Gibraltar.

Magistrate Mizzi said the girls’ victory was the crowning of an effort which included several sacrifices made by the girls and their coaches to attain such heights. “We had hoped for a medal, but we never imagined it would be gold,” Mizzi said yesterday.

The MBA president said the girls’ results confirmed the progress of women’s basketball in Malta and he said they were now already working on next year’s competitions. “We also have targets for our seniors. In the last 10 years, girls basketball has improved beyond recognition. In the men’s field, we still have to wait a little before starting to pick up the fruit. Considering the expenses involved which we have to face in travelling to play abroad, then our feats increase in significance,” he added.

He added that results as those of last week showed confidence in the work of the coaches and the great determination and the will to win of the girls.

Mizzi announced that training camps are scheduled for the women’s seniors at the end of this month and for the men in December.

He also issued a warning to those players who believed they could join the squad in the last few weeks of preparation before an international commitment. “They are completely mistaken. In that case they will simply be left out, whoever they are. These girls have been training for 11 out of the last 12 months to get this gold medal. They now deserve a rest following which they will start playing again for their clubs where we also hope to see them helping local basketball to improve its levels,” he added.

Mizzi said the MBA was proud that, at present, it has six players with foreign clubs. “Christina Grima is a player of AS Vis Fortitudo Pomezia of Rome/Loyola (she was voted among the tournament’s top five last week), Josephine Grima and Antoinette Borg are at Priolo, Rebecca Brincat plays for TSV 1880 Wasserburg, Lee Ross, who is another very bright prospect, is at Stella Azzurra and Samuel Deguara, the tallest player in Europe at 2.23 metres, is now at Benetton Treviso. We are very happy that they are gaining such excellent experience. We are also very happy that Rebecca Brincat has been given the Maltese passport and we know of others who wish to be able to play for their country in future,” he said.

Coach Sandro Farrugia thanked the association for giving him the opportunity to coach the girls for this tournament. “They have gone through several personal sacrifices, training in the morning and afternoon, despite this tournament being staged in the heat of summer. It was a big victory for us,” he said.

Mr Michael Attard, managing director of Peugeot Ltd, the sponsors of women’s basketball in Malta, congratulated the girls and said: “I was surprised with the determination of these girls. They wanted the result and got it. It was wonderful watching them play and win,” he said.