On Monday, at the European Snooker Championship in Antalya, Turkey, Malta secured seven wins out of eight matches, with Brian Cini winning both of his games and securing a spot in the knockout stage.
Cini started and ended the day for the Maltese team. In the first session, he had a strong start against Turkey’s Adil Bilbil, recording a break of 101 points in the opening frame and securing a comfortable 3-0 victory.
However, his evening match was more challenging. Facing Croatia’s Sven-Goran Maier, Cini lost the first frame and struggled to find his best form, making several mistakes, including two fouls when only two balls were left on the table. Despite this, he managed to win three consecutive frames to take the match 3-1. His final group match, against Poland’s Michał Kotiuk, will likely decide the winner of Group C, as Kotiuk also won both of his matches on the first day.
In their first group matches, Aaron Busuttil, Chris Peplow, Arthur Cachia, and Alex Borg all claimed dominant 3-0 wins against Roger Reppe (Norway), Aleksandr Vlassov (Estonia), Miguel Ruivo (Portugal), and Rafael Argente (Spain), respectively.
Joseph Casha showed great determination, coming back from two frames down to defeat Austria’s Oskar Charlesworth 3-2 after winning the final three frames.
The only Maltese player to lose was Philip Ciantar, who was beaten 3-0 by Scotland’s Ross Vallance.
On Tuesday, each Maltese player will play one match, with Brian Cini completing his group stage commitments. The match schedule is as follows:
18:00 Group C – Brian Cini vs Michał Kotiuk (Poland)
08:00 Group I – Chris Peplow vs Anton Kazakov (Ukraine)
08:00 Group J – Joseph Casha vs Robin Tønnesen (Denmark)
10:00 Group N – Aaron Busuttil vs Yorrit Hoes (Belgium)
10:00 Group O – Philip Ciantar vs Fergal Quinn (Northern Ireland)
10:00 Group Q – Arthur Cachia vs Nedim Ramic (Bosnia & Herzegovina)
14:00 Group AH – Alex Borg vs Erik Dullerud (Norway)
