Women’s basketball in Malta savoured another good dose of success on the international scene a few days ago with the bronze medal won by the Under-18 girls’ team to complement the title claimed by their senior peers in the FIBA European Championships for Small Countries a few weeks back in Gibraltar.

The U-18 side, coached by Sandro Farrugia and his assistant Winnie Buhagiar, were playing in the European Division C Championship in Tbilisi, Georgia.

In the group stage, they opened with an encouraging 65-32 win over Gibraltar and they followed that up with a hard-earned, but merited, 53-47 victory over Kosovo.

The third match was a group-winning decider against Georgia.

Farrugia’s team fought bravely but at the end they had to bow out to the hosts with a tight 55-51 scoreline against.

This meant that Malta had to face strong contenders Armenia in the semi-finals and the hot favourites lived up to pre-tournament expectations with a 59-43 win.

Sophie Abela (centre) and Hannah Al Tumi (right) after being named in the Top Five.

Malta qualified for the bronze medal match against Andorra and although falling 22-15 behind in the second quarter, the girls rallied back with a strong third-session display and never looked back to beat their opponents 71-63.

In the final, Armenia were in a class of their own as they downed Georgia 66-32.

Besides placing third, another notable achievement at the end of the tournament was the selection of two Malta U-18 players – Sophie Abela and Hannah Al Tumi – among the championship’s All Star Five.

The Malta squad was composed of Kristy Galea, Sophie Abela, Danielle Agius, Kimberley Pirotta, Noelene Vella, Laura Vella, Jasmine Abela, Nicole Hili, Nicole Vella, Hannah Al Tumi, Kirsty Caruana and Lara Caruana Montaldo.