Maltese girls Alison Borg and Gertrude Zarb finished in tears yesterday morning as they lost narrowly to Luxembourg in the match for the bronze medal.

It was an unlucky morning for the brave Maltese girls who confirmed that they deserved to be at these Games despite the doubts raised by almost everyone even a few days just before the contingent left Malta.

These two girls played their hearts out once again and after losing the first set 21-18, they went on to equalise after winning the second set 21-16. In the decider they had to bow their heads to the more experienced Luxembourg duo who triumphed 15-10.

But at the end, the Maltese girls richly deserved the applause and the congratulations of everyone present at the Mauren pitch.

Gertrude Zarb told the press later that despite their disappointment at the defeat, they were still happy with their performance, not only yesterday, but throughout the past five days. “We gave our everything. We were close to the medal and that is already a big satisfaction for us, considering that beach volley is still in its infancy in Malta.

These results and performances are certainly a source of encouragement for all of us and we expect a number of girls to start practising this sport in the near future,” she said.

Alison Borg agreed with Gertrude and said they were happy despite the defeat. “With a little more luck and with more experience, we would have gone further in this tournament. But we just started preparing in January and we’ve only been to a training camp in Serbia before coming here. I believe we have given a reply to all those who doubted our abilities. We simply hope to keep up our improvement in future,” she said.

MVA President Branko Vlahovic said it was a great moment for the sport and his association. “We have been building all this in the past three years. And we intend to continue on the right track, encouraged by these performances and results.

“We were among a few people who believed in the girls’ abilities. We have now been proved right and we are a very happy family,” he said.

Vlahovic said that with more experience, we can become even more competitive than we have been here. “Do not forget that it is not easy for us to travel here and there to take part in tournaments all the year round as the others can do by just taking a bus. It is more intriguing for us and much more expensive. Yet, with the small amount in euros we receive compared to what the others receive, then I must say we have performed a miracle here,” he added.