Malta has obtained its first win at the European championships, beating Israel 15-14 in a tightly contested encounter.
After losing the first three games in the opening round, Malta made the first step towards the 13th place
The national side will be meeting Slovenia and Slovakia over the next two days in the hope of clinching its best ever position. Malta's best finish is the 14th place.
It was a tight game right from the start, with the two teams sharing 10 goals in the first session.
Malta pulled away in the second quarter, building a 9-7 lead. After the change of ends, Israel kept up the pace with the Maltese lads and the third session finished 12-11 for Malta.
In the last session, the two teams shared six goals with Malta managing to retain its one-goal advantage.
The best scorer for Malta was Nagaev, with six goals; Stevie Camilleri scored five, Nikolai Zammit two and Benji Cachia and Jayden Cutajar scored one each.