Adamoli relishing challenge

The women’s basketball team are heading to Luxembourg in search of a third GSSE gold medal in 10 years. New coach Angela Adamoli, who has taken over from fellow Italian Santino Coppa, tells Valhmor Camilleri that she is relishing the prospect of leading the team to medal glory.

Filling the void left by Santino Coppa is a no mean feat. The wily Italian was a huge success in almost 10 years as women’s team coach, leading the side to two GSSE gold medals and two FIBA Championships Division C titles.

But Angela Adamoli is a person who, by nature, never turns down a challenge.

“I felt honoured to be offered the chance to become national coach of the Maltese team,” she told Times of Malta.

“It doesn’t happen everyday that you receive an offer to manage a national team. I had a rough idea of the Maltese game when I met some officials and players during a camp they had in Italy last year.

“Everyone knows Santino Coppa and what he has achieved here but I relish challenges.

“I am a very hard-working person who strives to deliver results and I hope that I can lead the team to more success.”

Adamoli has enjoyed a successful career both at club and international level in Italy. She made her debut as a 14-year-old when she joined Vicenza and was immediately included in the senior side.

Adamoli became a mainstay in the side, helping the team to win the Italian title and the European Cup in 1988 when they beat Russian giants Dynamo Novosibirsk 70-64 in the final. Later in her career she added the Ronchetti Cup while playing for Cesena.

Adamoli, now 40, donned the national team shirt 96 times. She won two silver medals in the European Championships and a second place in the Mediterranean Games.

One of her fondest memories remains the gold medal in the 1995 University Games when Italy ousted Russia in the semi-final before beating the United States in the title match.

Incidentally, it was Paolo Lorenzi, the current coach of the Malta men’s team, who lured Adamoli to coaching as she became his assistant with Pomezia Roma in Serie A1.

Adamoli expects a lot from her players but so far she is very satisfied with their effort in preparation for the GSSE.

“I am really pleased with the reception I got from my players,” the former 1.78m guard said.

“In the last two weeks they’ve shown great enthusiasm during training and that is very important. The players seem to be adapting well to the new tactics I introduced.

“We want to play the game the modern way, based on a quick transition from defence to attack and vice-versa. That entails a great deal of physical fitness but the girls have been superb in that respect.

“All members of the squad have an important role to play, so I want this unity to get stronger as we go along.”

Malta open their campaign in Luxembourg next Wednesday when they play against Iceland. They face Luxembourg the following day before wrapping up their commitments on June 1 against Cyprus.

Adamoli singles out Luxembourg as the team to beat for the gold medal.

“The home side will be difficult to beat,” she reckons.

“Lately, they played two friendlies against a Germany selection and won them both. That tells a lot about their strength.

“The fact that they have planned a series of warm-up matches shows that they are really planning well for the tournament.

“Iceland are a very physical side and Cyprus are traditionally strong in these Games so I think they will also be among the challengers.

“But at the end of the day we’re focusing on our resources.

“True, we have lost a key player in Rebecca Thoresen but the Maltese squad is still com-petitive.

“The players selected are the best we have. Hopefully that will be enough for us to win the tournament.”