Malta trio in European championship

Alex Borg, Duncan Bezzina and Simon Zammit will represent Malta in the 2004 EBSA Championship which takes place between Thursday and June 5 in Volkermarkt, Austria.

The Maltese trio, winners of the Euro team event this year in Latvia, will be among an entry of 64 players from 24 federations. Malta has never had a champion at this category. The closest to win were Paul Mifsud and Borg. They both lost in the final - in 1988 and 1998 respectively.

Last year in Wales, Borg, who defends his national championship title on June 19 in the final at Msida against Joe Grech, was eliminated in the semi-final.

Tony Mifsud will again play in the seniors tournament. Ray Debattista and Paul Galea will officiate some of the matches.

Bezzina and Zammit are already in Austria for the Challenge Tour play-offs this week. They were joined by Philip Coleiro, Philip Ciantar, Clinton Falzon and David Cortis.

Sixty-four players are taking part, the top four earning a berth in the Challenge Tour, a stepping stone to the WSA's Main Tour.

Borg, meanwhile, retained his place in the Challenge Tour list after finishing 40th overall from 128 players at the end of the fourth event in the series last week.