Malta 1, consisting of Aaron Busuttil and Chris Peplow, continued their impressive performance and secured a place in the finals of the European Men’s Team Snooker Championship in Albufiera, Portugal on the day before the tournament’s conclusion.
The three Maltese teams competed in the quarterfinals in the morning, but only Malta 1 was able to maintain their winning streak and move on to the semi-finals. Malta 3, made up of Joseph Casha and Philip Ciantar, were defeated 3-0 by Ukraine 1 (Denys Khmelevskyi/Iulian Boiko), who will be facing Malta 1 in the finals. Malta 2, with Alex Borg and his son Isaac Borg, were also eliminated after losing to France 2 (Fabian Monnin/Brian Ochoiski), who advanced to the semi-finals against Malta 1. In the quarterfinals, Malta 1, represented by Aaron Busuttil and Chris Peplow, emerged victorious with a score of 3-1 against the Austrian team of Florian Nüßle and Paul Schopf.
In the semi-finals, they defeated France 2 with a score of 3-0, with frame scores of 66-24, 60-51, and 68-47. The final, which will be played on Wednesday, will be a best-of-five frames match starting at noon (Malta time). For the second time in this championship, Malta 1 will be facing Ukraine 1, composed of Denys Khmelevskyi and Iulian Boiko, after winning their group game against them last Monday.
Malta has previously won the European Championship in the men’s team category five times, but the format has since changed. In 2004, Malta achieved their first victory in Latvia with a team of three players, including Alex Borg, Simon Zammit, and Duncan Bezzina. The following year, they won again on home soil with Alex Borg, Simon Zammit, and the late Grech as a doubles team. In 2014, Alex Borg and Duncan Bezzina secured a win in Romania, and in 2016, Alex Borg and Brian Cini were victorious in Lithuania. Malta’s most recent win in this championship was in Serbia in 2019, with Tony Drago and Duncan Bezzina as the winning team.
