Aaron Busuttil and Chris Peplow are the last Maltese players remaining in contention at the European Snooker Championships in Sofia, Bulgaria, after Malta 1 secured direct qualification to the Menโs Team quarter-finals.
Busuttil and Peplow completed a perfect group stage on Tuesday, winning their third successive match without dropping a single frame.
Their final Group B opponents were Bulgaria 2, represented by Bratislav Krastev and Viktor Iliev, with the Maltese pair recording another convincing 3-0 victory.
They won the frames 71-23, 56-49 and 68-58 to complete the group stage with nine frames won and none lost.
Malta 1 were the only team in the Menโs Team Championship to go through the entire group stage without conceding a frame, earning them direct qualification to the quarter-finals and allowing them to avoid the play-off round.
Busuttil and Peplow will now face Poland 2’s Michaล Kotiuk and Jakub Chromy in the last eight on Thursday at 9am.
Should they progress, their semi-final will be played later on Thursday at 3pm against the winners of the quarter-final between Ukraine’s Matvei Lagodzinschii and Yurii Semko and Germany 1’s Alexander Widau and Simon Lichtenberg.
Malta 2 eliminated by Ukraine
Malta 2, represented by Alex Borg and Joseph Casha, saw their challenge come to an end after suffering two defeats on Tuesday.
In their final group encounter, Borg and Casha were beaten 3-0 by France 1’s Nicolas Mortreux and Niel Vincent, with the frames ending 63-67, 32-64 and 21-68 from Malta’s perspective.
Despite the defeat, the Maltese pair still qualified for the knockout stage but had to contest a play-off for a place in the quarter-finals.
There they faced Ukraine’s Lagodzinschii and Semko and were eliminated following a 3-1 defeat.
Malta won the opening frame 78-37, but Ukraine responded strongly to take the next three 58-20, 64-54 and 69-52 and secure their place among the final eight.
Bronze medal for Ciantar and Mallia
Meanwhile, Philip Ciantar and Emanuel Mallia secured a bronze medal for Malta after reaching the semi-finals of the Over-40 team competition.
The Maltese pair booked their place in the last four after overcoming Poland 2’s Marcin Nitschke and Jarosลaw Kowalski 3-2 in a closely contested quarter-final.
Ciantar and Mallia won the opening frame 56-40 before Poland levelled with a 68-47 success. Malta moved back in front by taking the third 65-26, only for the Polish pair to force a decider after winning the fourth 59-40.
The Maltese duo dominated the deciding frame 60-17 to secure their semi-final place.
Their run was eventually halted by Belgium 1, represented by Alain Vandersteen and Peter Bullen, who recorded a 3-0 victory with frame scores of 69-47, 69-49 and 57-53.
Reaching the semi-finals earned Ciantar and Mallia a joint third-place finish and a bronze medal for Malta.
For Ciantar, it was his second bronze medal of the 2026 European Snooker Championships, adding another individual achievement to an impressive campaign in Sofia.
Sports Editor
Veteran Journalist
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