Malta’s basketball senior national teams have brought home medals both in the men’s and women’s game this summer as they reported for duty in the FIBA European Small Countries Games. Kurt Aquilina spoke with Malta women’s head coach Angela Adamoli after her team won bronze in Cyprus…
This summer’s FIBA Small Countries tournament in Nicosia had been a redemption mission from the start, after the Malta women’s team missed out on a medal with a loss to Kosovo in the third-place game in 2021. This year’s tournament followed a round-robin format with Malta facing Kosovo yet again in this year’s opener.
“I think this year we had a better preparation,” Adamoli admitted.
“Last year, we started training after COVID-19, so it was really hard. I think that last year we were lucky to even play the European Championship. The players were not so ready because they stopped a lot of times. Eight months without playing was hard to perform at a certain level.
“This year I found players better trained and in better shape. If Malta wants to compete at a high level, the players must be ready physically, technically, mentally, and full of energy.
“When I arrived in Malta (this year) the girls were not bad so I could go on with the preparation because the way they play in Malta and at international level is different. The level and speed, and lack of friendly games, makes it harder to play the first game and we knew that the opening game was really important.
“From last year, the mentality changed a lot. We knew that we were going to play for a medal, and Kosovo was the team against whom we lost last year for the bronze.”