The decisive stage of the European Snooker Championship gets underway this Wednesday in Golem, Albania. The Men’s Team Competition features 22 teams from 14 different countries. Malta will be strongly represented with three national teams participating in this prestigious event.
The opening two days will be dedicated to group-stage matches, followed on Friday by two play-offs to determine the final two places in the quarter-finals. The semi-finals are scheduled for Saturday. Additionally, the grand final will take place on Sunday, concluding 19 consecutive days of top-level snooker action.
Malta’s three teams will line up as follows:
Malta 1: Aaron Busuttil & Chris Peplow, Malta 2: Alex Borg & Joseph Casha, Malta 3: Philip Ciantar & Isaac Borg.
Busuttil and Peplow, representing Malta 1, have proven themselves at this level, finishing runners-up in last year’s edition in Albufeira, Portugal, after losing the final to Ukraine 1.
This year, Malta 1 is placed in a five-team group, facing Hungary, Bulgaria 2, Poland 3 and Albania 3. Malta 2 will compete against Bulgaria 1, Albania 1 and Wales, while Malta 3 faces a tough group against Ukraine, Portugal and Albania 2.
Malta’s Opening Day Fixtures – Wednesday, 15 October
10:00 – Group A: Malta 3 vs Albania 2 (Diego Minxalli – Ronald Xoxi)
10:00 – Group B: Malta 1 vs Albania 3 (Albi Rama – Besjan Sinanaj)
16:00 – Group A: Malta 3 vs Portugal (Diogo Badalo – Jorge Paixão), Group B: Malta 1 vs Poland 3 (Paweł Rogoza – Bartosz Utkowski), Group E: Malta 2 vs Bulgaria 1 (Viktor Iliev – Bratislav Krastev).
Malta will be looking to build on last year’s strong performance, with hopes of once again reaching the latter stages of the championship.
Sports Editor
Veteran Journalist
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