Malta women’s team place fifth on European Team Shield Championships debut

Men’s team finish in sixth place

The Malta golf national teams missed out on a place on the podium in both the men’s and women’s categories at the European Team Shield Championships that were held in Liechtenstein.

The women’s selection, who were making their first appearance in the tournament, managed to finish in fifth place.

On the other hand, the men’s team ended in sixth place.

The Ladies Team was composed of Filippa Schulze Doering, Laya Cristina, Elliana Buhagiar and Serena Falzon Manduca.

The Maltese ladies lost their quarter-final to Bulgaria on Thursday, meaning that their best possible finish in this championship could only be fifth which they duly achieved.

The Maltese ladies triumphed over Ukraine on Friday and on Saturday morning had the better of Hungary. Buhagiar and Cristina led the team as the foursomes pair.

Falzon Manduca and then Schulze Doering followed in the singles matches.

Buhagiar and Cristina won their foursomes match 4&3. Falzon won her match 5&4 while Schulze Doering was losing her match.

However, with the tie already decided and in the good spirit of the game, her Hungarian opponent shook hands for a halved match.

In the men’s tournament, the Maltese quartet also lost their quarter-final match to Andorra on Thursday, meaning they could not go higher than fifth place.

Malta beat Serbia on Friday but the lost to Albania on Saturday morning.

The men’s team was formed by Andrew Borg, Laurens Schulze Doering, Oliver Stuart and Trent Vella.

Schulze Doering and Vella formed the foursomes pair. Borg and Stuart followed in the singles matches.

Schulze Doering and Vella lost their foursomes match 4&3.

Borg won his singles match 5&4 but Oliver lost 6&5.

Women’s standings: 1. Turkey; 2. Bulgaria; 3. Estonia; 4. Luxembourg; 5. Malta; 6. Hungary; 7. Ukraine; 8. Liechtenstein; 9. Greece; 10. Croatia; 11. Latvia.

Men’s standings: 1. Turkey; 2. Luxembourg; 3. Andorra; 4. Bulgaria; 5. Albania; 6. Malta; 7. Liechtenstein; 8. Serbia; 9. Cyprus; 10. Bosnia & Herzegovina; 11. Ukraine; 12. Georgia.