Malta U-16 brush aside Kazakhstan to seal top spot at world championships

Kazakhstan     3

Malta 13

(0-3, 1-3, 0-4, 2-3)

The Malta national team continued to impress at the World U-16 Championships when they brushed aside Kazakhstan to seal top spot in the group.

It was a dominant performance from Anthony Farrugia’s youngsters who were simply a cut above their Kazakh opponents, outplaying their opponents through the four sessions played.

For the Maltese, who stunned the United States 10-7 in their opener on Sunday, this was their second success in the competition to seal top spot in Group F and progress to the Gold Platinum phase which will see them battle for a top-eight placing in the competition – a remarkable result for a team who is making its debut in the competition.

The Maltese will be now in action on Wednesday when they face the runner-up team in Group G, which will be either Turkey or South Africa.

Malta were soon up and running and they took the water by storm after surging into a three-goal lead by the end of the first session.

Jayden Cutajar, who was yesterday celebrating his birthday, scored a fine hat-trick to put his team in charge.

In the second session, the Maltese kept their superiority over their opponents and managed to add three more goals through Jayden Cutajar, Elijah Schembri and Luigi Dimech.

Kazakhstan finally got on the scoresheet when Gleb Sazonov fired the ball home, but it was Malta who headed into the interval with a commanding 6-1 lead.

The goals kept coming in the third session with Malta scoring four times without reply through Jayden Cassar, Zak Cutajjar Licari, Sam Engerer and Cain Cutajar.

The match was as good as over but the Maltese still managed to add three more goals in the final session through Cain Cutajar, Zak Cutajar Licari and Elijah Schembri for a resounding victory.

Kazakhstan: D. Ozerov, N. Babenko, T. Gribov, G. Ossipov, R. Sarajov, V. Yurtayev, I. Karyukin 1, G. Sazonov 1, A. Kubaidolla, I. Fedorovich 1, D. Ali, A. Bekmukhamedov, A. Aday.

Malta: D. Galea Mule, L. Dimech 1, S. Engerer 1, G. Bonavia, J. Cassar 1, D. Bugeja, Z. Cutajar Licari 2, J. Cutajar 4, E. Schembri 2, C. Cutajar 2, L. Montebello Brownrigg, E. Mallia, I Schembri.