Three Maltese players remain in contention at the European Snooker Championship in Gandía, Spain, after Philip Ciantar came through the playoff stage on day four to join Aaron Busuttil and Chris Peplow in the last 64.
Ciantar had entered the day needing to win two frames to qualify from the group stage, but he was comfortable throughout, seeing off Portugal’s Miguel Ruivo 3-1 with scores of 69-2, 60-72, 59-23 and 90-10.
However, the playoff draw immediately ended any hope of a clean sweep for Malta. Ciantar and Joseph Casha were paired against each other, while Brian Cini drew Scotland’s Michael Collumb. Cini fell 3-1, losing by scores of 58-69, 64-27, 49-70 and 33-74 and was eliminated.
In the all-Maltese affair, Casha took the opening frame but Ciantar recovered quickly. He edged the next two to seal a 3-1 win, with frame scores of 55-38, 44-69, 22-64 and 47-66, booking his place in the last 64.
All three remaining Maltese players are in action on Thursday morning. Busuttil faces Latvia’s Arturs Kengis and Peplow takes on England’s Zachary Richardson, both at 10:00, while Ciantar meets Romania’s Iustin Scripei at 12:30. The last 32 stage is also scheduled for the same day.
