Six youths today left Malta for Antalya in Turkey to take part in the European Snooker Junior Championship which gets under way tomorrow. Like previous editions there will be three categories, the under 16 years, under 18 years and under 21 years. This year the Malta Billiards & Snooker Association will be represented in each category.
Four of the Maltese youngsters who will be taking part are the winners of the local Junior championships that were held towards the end of last summer. Matthias Debono had won the under 21 category while the brothers, Chaylon and Jake Castaldi had won the finals of under 18 and under 16 respectively. In Malta we have a competition for under 12 years and its winner, Gregory Cachia, will also be among those who will represent Malta in Turkey. Along with these four, the other two young Maltese snooker players will be Xavier Rizzo and Caiden Casha.
The level during this European Junior Championship organized by the European Billiards & Snooker Association, the EBSA, is expected to be very high and among the participants there are young people who during competitions have already obtained breaks of 140 points and more. A total of 149 young players will take part in the three categories and 29 different European countries will be represented in this championship.
Many of the players registered, including the Maltese, will be taking part in more than one category and from these 21 will take part in all three categories. Two Maltese youngsters, Caiden Casha and Jake Castaldi, will be among those who will compete in every event during this edition.
Another three players will be participating in two categories. Chaylon Castaldi and Xavier Rizzo will take part in the competitions of the under 18 and under 21 while Gregory Cachia who is 12 years old and will be the youngest Maltese representative will compete in the under 16 and under 18 categories. Matthias Debono who is 20 years of age can take part only in under 21 competition.
Most of the Maltese players will be accompanied by their parents while the Maltese contingent is led by the Malta Billiards & Snooker Association head coach, Ivan Attard.
