The group phase of the WSF World Snooker Championship continued on Tuesday in Sofia, Bulgaria, with four Maltese players recording victories on the fourth day of competition.
Seven Maltese players are competing in the tournament, with Chris Peplow becoming the first to secure qualification for the knockout phase after recording his third win of the group stage.
Peplow was the only Maltese player in action during the opening session of the day. He defeated Romanian Vladut Ciuche 3-1 after losing the opening frame. As on the previous day, Peplow responded strongly, winning the next three frames to complete the comeback. The frame scores were 40-64, 48-38, 58-4 and 71-2. Despite still having one remaining round robin match to play, the result confirmed his place in the knockout phase.
Aaron Busuttil and Joseph Casha both recorded 3-0 victories in their respective matches. Busuttil overcame Germany’s Manuel Ederer with frame scores of 98-15, 19-64 and 33-65. Casha defeated England’s Steven Hughes, winning frames 48-28, 60-12 and 88-16, which included a break of 52.
Busuttil has now completed all his group matches. His qualification for the next stage will be decided by the outcome of the remaining fixture between England’s Kaylan Patel and China’s Wang Xinzhong, both of whom previously defeated him. Casha must win at least two frames in his final group match to secure progression.
Veteran Maltese player Alex Borg also recorded a win, defeating Latvia’s Nikita Bazilevics 3-1. Borg opened the match with a break of 65 in the first frame and went on to win with frame scores of 77-38, 59-9, 45-70 and 73-39. A victory in his final group match would almost certainly confirm his place in the knockout phase.
Brian Cini suffered a narrow 3-2 defeat against England’s Wayne Brown, losing in the deciding frame. To progress from Group I, Cini must win his final match, although qualification will also depend on the result between England’s Aidan Murphy and Poland’s Sebastian Milewski.
Xavier Rizzo and Chris Camilleri were both defeated 3-0 and are now mathematically eliminated from the competition. Rizzo lost to England’s Simon Blackwell, while Camilleri was beaten by Ukraine’s 15 year old Matvei Lagodzinschii.
Camilleri will still contest his final group match, while Rizzo has completed his schedule after his final opponent withdrew from the tournament.
The remaining group stage matches involving Maltese players are scheduled for Wednesday as follows:
- 11:00 Group C: Chris Camilleri vs Zhan Laushman (Bulgaria)
- 11:00 Group AM: Alex Borg vs Steve Crowley (England)
- 13:00 Group F: Joseph Casha vs Matei Unguru (Romania)
- 13:00 Group I: Brian Cini vs Andrei Călin (Romania)
- 17:00 Group X: Chris Peplow vs Steven Croker (England)
