At the European Snooker Championship in Golem, Albania, several Maltese players took part in different competitions: the Q Tour, the Shoot Out, and the Six Reds.
In the Q Tour Event 3, supported by the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA), Alex Borg and Philip Ciantar were knocked out in the first round. Joseph Casha made it to the last 64. Of the four Maltese players, Aaron Busuttil did the best, reaching the last 32 before being beaten by England’s George Pragnell.
The Shoot Out and Six Reds events were organised by the European Billiards & Snooker Association (EBSA). In the Shoot Out, Borg, Peplow, and Ciantar lost in the first round. Busuttil and Casha won their opening matches but were both eliminated in the last 32.
The best Maltese performance came in the Six Reds event. Four of the five Maltese players got through the group stage into the knock-out rounds, only Alex Borg didn’t make it. In the last 32, Casha and Ciantar were eliminated. Chris Peplow reached the last 16 but lost to Estonia’s Andres Petrov, who had already beaten Casha earlier.
Aaron Busuttil was the only Maltese player to reach the semi-finals. On his way, he defeated Krzysztof Czapnik from Poland and Mykhailo Larkov from Ukraine. In the semi-final, he was beaten by England’s Craig Steadman, who went on to win the tournament. Busuttil and France’s Gregory Kopec both finished in joint third place and received medals.
Busuttil, who was Malta’s national champion in both the 2022/23 and 2023/24 seasons, has been showing great consistency this year, aiming for top results in international competitions.
