Simon Gerada and Andrzej Makowski pushed Malta's tally of gold medals in Andorra to three yesterday after they beat Luxembourg 3-2 in a tense team competition final at the Encamp Sports Complex.
The Malta pair, who had qualified to the final earlier in the day with an emphatic 3-0 win over Liechtenstein, looked heading to a comfortable victory in the match for a gold medal.
Gerada won his opening singles match against Fabien Simon 3-1 before Makowski doubled Malta's advantage with a 3-1 win over Airlindo De Sousa.
At this stage another success in the doubles rubber would have secured us gold in straight sets but Simon and Mike Bast hit back admirably to pull one back.
Gerada looked on course to put the tie beyond Luxembourg's reach when he won the opening two sets of his singles match against De Sousa.
But the Maltese-Australian suddenly collapsed and the Luxembourg player won the next three sets to force a decider.
Makowski, however, was quick to halt Luxembourg's comeback bid when he beat Simon 3-0 to seal Malta's success.
"It was about time Maltese table-tennis wins a gold medal," a relieved Gerada told The Times.
"It was not easy because all teams are well equipped. As the game against Luxembourg showed, one small lapse of concentration could spell trouble. But we showed great determination to win this final."
Polish-born Makowski was understandably elated.
"It's a great moment for me," he said. "Here, we had to prove that Maltese table tennis is a force to reckon with and being crowned team champion clearly proves that."
For national coach Mario Genovese the success is a just reward for four years of hard work within the local table tennis association.
"We have been working hard for this since 2001," Genovese said.
"During all this time we have been through difficult times but now we have shown that our team is truly one of the strongest in the GSSE.
"In the last two editions we came very close to win gold but we missed out by a whisker. This time we had a very strong team who showed character and skill. This success was an ideal confidence boost ahead of the other competitions."
Genovese was critical of the congestion of fixtures.
Yesterday, both Gerada and Makowski were back in action only 20 minutes after the team event final was over. The Malta coach is demanding a change.
"I think this situation is farcical to say the least," he said.
"How can you pretend that a player who has just finished playing a decisive match is fit enough, both physically and mentally, to figure in another vital competitive match in a very short space of time.
"Players are human beings after all and the GSSE officials should show more respect in this regard."
Meanwhile, Gerada and Makow-ski won their opening two matches from their respective qualifying groups in the singles.
In Group B, Gerada first beat Ognian Serafimov, of Cyprus, 3-1 and then he had the better of Iceland's Adam Hardason 3-1.
In the other group, Makowski outsmarted Bast 3-0 before overcoming the stiff challenge of Cyprus's Kiril Talavanov 3-2.
Today, Gerada and Makowski will be looking to add more victories and secure a place in the knockout stages.
Johanna Grech is also in action today in the women's singles competition with her opening qualifying matches.