Luxembourg upset clears the way for Coppa's golden girls

The women's national basketball team were declared the gold medal winners of the GSSE 2009 without touching a ball yesterday.

Santino Coppa's girls had notched their second successive win of the tournament on Wednesday, when they edged past hosts Cyprus 53-48, and needed to avoid defeat in their remaining match today to seal first place.

However, Luxembourg's unexpected 80-55 drubbing to Iceland yesterday meant that the Maltese team cannot be overtaken at the top of the round-robin competition.

In the event, that Malta lose to Luxembourg at midday today, they would still remain top of the group due to a better head-to-head record against both Cyprus and Iceland.

Contacted by The Times, national coach Coppa was in jubilant mood.

"I'm a happy man," he said.

"I'm happy for this team that has done so well for the game of basketball in Malta," the Italian coach said.

"Since 2003, this team has gone from strength to strength. We won the GSSE 2003 tournament and last year we finished first in the European Championships 'C'. Now this gold medal in Cyprus.

"This success has to be attributed to each and every member in our squad. This is a team sport and we wouldn't have achieved this success without an all-round effort from the players and technical staff. Before, we were considered among the weakest in our category but today we have developed into a strong and respected side."

A positive atmosphere in the dressing room is the key to this success, according to the Italian coach.

"Our success was built on a strong team spirit," he said.

"The players produce their best mostly when the team is in difficulty... they play for each other. Against Cyprus, Ashleigh Vella and Rebecca Brincat Thoresen were not fully fit and it was in these difficult moments that the team's fighting qualities came to fore. We fought bravely to make sure of victory.

"Now we have one final match to go and although we are already guaranteed a gold medal we still want to finish unbeaten to further underline our superiority."

Results so far: Iceland vs Malta 53-69; Cyprus vs Luxembourg 68-55; Malta vs Cyprus 53-48; Iceland vs Luxembourg 80-55.

Standings: Malta 4 (2-0); Cyprus 3 (1-1); Iceland 3 (1-1); Luxembourg 2 (0-2).

Men's team suffer another defeat

The men's basketball team are still in search of their first win in the 2009 GSSE tournament after an 87-62 defeat to Luxembourg yesterday.

This was Malta's third successive loss in the competition and their prospects of a place on the podium now look remote.

Bruno Dipietrantonio's men started the match on a par with their opponents and after the opening 10 minutes the result was locked on 19-all. But, Luxembourg soon started to impose themselves on the game to pull 13 points clear at the interval, 46-33.

The Maltese team tried to force their way back into the match but Luxembourg, who were beaten 80-57 by Cyprus on Tuesday, kept a firm grip on the proceedings and eventually cruised to a comfortable win.

Today, Malta have another tough fixture as they take gold medal favourites Cyprus.