The squad which will be representing Malta at the European 7s tournament in Latvia is now known.

Of the original squad, only 10 were selected, among them Dorien Jager, Barbara Caruana and Pamela Psaila, who are new faces to the squad.

Other squad members include Beverie Sultana, Amanda Cassar, Ritienne Bondin, Clare Casha, Dorianne Borg, Marion Azzopardi (captain) and Vanessa Attard.

The other players who had to be left out were Maria Spiteri, Marilyn Grech, Claudine Saliba, Rachel Galea, Sefora Avallone, Marion Pullicino and Cristina Conti.

Graziella Jones will accompany the squad as team manager, Carmelo Longo and Owen Scerri as coaches and Steve Cilia as physio.

The squad leaves for Riga, Latvia on Thursday and will play 2 and 3 July.

Malta will be competing in Division A, pool B and will face Austria, Croatia, Ukraine, hosts Latvia and Belgium. Depending on the results in the pool round, they will play in the knockout game and ultimately the final match, determining their place in the tournament.

The squad has been training since January under the guidance of coaches Carmelo Longo, Owen Scerri and Susan Bradley and also assisted by national coach, Damian Neill. Players have been working on skills and, more recently, key game tactics. Varying skill sets of opposing sides can change dramatically from year to year, so it’s essential for the Maltese girls to be keen observers of their opponents and react accordingly throughout the tournament.

While Malta women have been achieving better results year on year in the Championships, last year, the girls suffered numerous injuries and it was a testament to their grit and determination that they finished the tournament at all.

However, prior to this in Belgium in 2009, our girls stole the show and were placed a magnificent 13th out of 37 in Europe. Similar success is undoubtedly in the minds of the 2011 squad who want nothing but to fight back to achieve high rankings yet again.