The Malta mes squash national selection struck gold in the team competition as they battled past Liechtenstein 3-1 in an exciting final at the Marsa Sports Club.
Brad Hindle Deguara, Kijan Sultana, Duncan Stahl and Daniel Zammit Lewis turned on the style to reaffirm our country’s dominance in the sport.
While every player in the team gave their fair share in the success, one cannot but not highlight the significant contribution of Hindle Deguara whose presence in the team seemed to give the team added confidence with his guile and experience.
Sultana and Zammit Lewis managed to win some valuable points in difficult moments while Stahl produced a lion-hearted display throughout the competition.
For the men’s squash selection, this was their first gold medal at the 2023 GSSE after missing out on gold in the singles event, which saw Sultana take bronze
“This is a fantastic achievement for us,” Zammit Lewis told the Times of Malta.
“It’s a team effort. This week were forced to play against each other but in this competition, it’s a combined effort and a different mentality. It’s great that I have been part of this team for the past 13 years, and Brad even more than that. Having young talent like Kijan and Lijana be part of the team is fantastic.”
Zammit Lewis said that the team chemistry that exists has been key to their success.
“We are a great unit, on and off the court. We are good friends and a very united team so this success makes it even more special.”
Zammit Lewis said that this gold medal will surely have a huge impact on the future of squash in Malta.
“This success is huge in terms of the future,” he said. “We are managing to produce young talent, which was exciting to watch this week, and hopefully our success will inspire people and youngsters to start playing the sport and producing champions that can represent Malta in the biggest international competitions in the future.”
The Maltese team had booked their place in the final after an impressive 3-1 win over Luxembourg yesterday morning.
After wins for Brad Hindle Deguara and Kijan Sultana had given Malta a 2-0 lead, Daniel Zammit Lewis lost his singles match to give their opponents a glimmer of hope.
Duncan Stahl, initially trailing his match 1-0, kept his nerves as the match went into a tie-break and with the Luxembourg player moving 11-10 ahead, the Maltese player fought back to win the next three points to secure the set and level the match at one set apiece.
In the decider, there was little separating both players, but it was Stahl who prevailed 13-11 to send the team to this evening’s gold medal final against Liechtenstein.
