Malta suffered its first defeat in the tournament at Mauren when yesterday the Maltese girls lost 2-0 at the hands of Group leaders Luxembourg.

Despite the defeat, Malta’s girls, Alison Borg and Gertrude Zarb, were close to upsetting the favourites, especially in the second set. In fact it was their inexperience which let them down in certain moments of the game. Otherwise it was a good follow-up after their initial win against Andorra on Tuesday.

Their performance confirmed the association’s belief that they had a competitive team to play with in these Games.

Borg and Zarb lost the first set 21-14. In the second set, it was a completely different thing. They led from the start and near the end, they were on match point at 20-18 and 20-19, but Luxembourg somehow managed to creep back and went on to clinch the set by winning 24-22.

After yesterday’s matches, Luxembourg lead the Group with four points from two wins, Malta are occupying second place on two points with one win and one defeat. Monaco have the same record – two points, one win and one defeat – but Malta have a better points difference. Andorra are bottom of the Group with no points following two defeats.

If Malta gets a win against Monaco in its last commitment, then they will reach the semifinals of the competition with the chance of winning a bronze medal.