Kathryn Fenech and Mikhail Mallia emerged as the champions of the 2025 MBA Gold Cup following an intense weekend of competition, with the qualification rounds held on Saturday and the finals taking place on Sunday.
In the men’s division, young Mikhail Mallia led the standings after the qualification round, ahead of Shawn Montanaro and Alan Ciantar. Although he briefly lost the top spot to Montanaro in Game 3 of the Top 8 direct clashes by a narrow margin, Mallia rebounded strongly with three consecutive games scoring over 200. This impressive streak allowed him to reclaim the lead and maintain it through all seven games, securing his victory. A resurgent Samuel Caruso surged from sixth place to finish as runner-up, with Montanaro rounding out the podium in third. Nicholas Falzon finished fourth, followed by David Fenech, Daniel Ricciari, Bjorn Tabone, and Alan Ciantar in eighth place.
In the women’s division, Kathryn Fenech qualified in second place, just behind Jade Barbara. She faced Barbara in the opening match of the Top 8 round-robin and won, propelling her into first place—a position she held firmly for the remainder of the competition. Fenech won five out of her seven matches, securing the title. Amanda Cini climbed from third to second place, while Celianne Micallef had a strong showing, winning five matches and drawing one to leap from sixth to third. Ruslana Grima placed fourth, followed by Liliana Spiteri, Jade Barbara, Donna Vella, and Sandra Xuereb.
