Four Maltese through to Knockout Stage at European Snooker Championship 2025

The group stage of the European Individual Seniors Snooker Championship concluded on Sunday in Golem, Albania, with the 40 players advancing to the knockout phase now confirmed. Out of the six Maltese participants, four successfully qualified for the next round after completing their final group matches.

Philip Ciantar enjoyed an excellent day, winning both of his matches to top Group M and secure direct qualification to the last 32. In the morning session, he defeated Jean-Christophe Margontier (France) 3–1, before easing past Tony Morgan (Wales) 3–0 in the afternoon.

Frans Mintoff and Alex Borg also advanced after finishing second in their respective groups. Both players won one match and lost one.
Mintoff edged Sergej Korolkov (Lithuania) 3–2 but later fell by the same scoreline to Marcin Nitschke (Poland). Borg started strongly with a 3–0 victory over Darius Bublys (Lithuania) before losing 3–0 to Allan Morgan (Wales) in the evening. As group runners-up, both Mintoff and Borg will contest preliminary matches to reach the last 32.

Arthur Cachia, who had already secured qualification on Saturday, lost his final group match 3–2 to Stuart Watson (England) in a deciding frame. Despite the defeat, Cachia finished second in his group and advanced directly to the last 32.

Although Tony Mifsud and Ivan Attard had already been eliminated following their earlier defeats, both produced strong performances on Sunday to end their participation on a positive note. Mifsud defeated Bekim Aliu (Albania) 3–0, while Attard achieved the same scoreline against Andrius Ščerbakovasn (Lithuania).

The championship continues on Monday with a busy schedule, including the preliminary round, followed by matches in the last 32, last 16, and quarter-finals. The tournament will conclude on Tuesday with the semi-finals and final.

Maltese Players’ Fixtures – Knockout Phase

Monday, 6 October 2025
10:00 – Preliminary Round

• Frans Mintoff vs Olivier Pechenart (Belgium)

• Alex Borg vs Dennis Van Der Zee (Netherlands)

13:30 – Last 32

• Arthur Cachia vs Māris Volajs (Latvia)

• Philip Ciantar vs Krzysztof Drążkiewicz (Poland)

Gerald Fenech

Sports Editor
Veteran Journalist