Alex Borg and Joe Grech will represent Malta in the 2004 IBSF World Snooker Championship in Veldhoven, Holland, between November 21 and December 4.

A record 168 players from 40 countries will compete in the championships to be played on 22 tables at the NH Koningshof Hotel. Emric Ellul will be one of the 48 international referees in the tournament.

This year's championship will also feature an inaugural tournament for seniors (over 40 years) to run with the open competitions for men and women. No fewer than 800 matches will be played in the group stages over the first ten days. These will be followed by another 61 in the knockout stages.

Participants in the men's championship were divided in eight groups of 11 players each with the top four moving to the last 32 stage.

Borg, the current Malta champion, has been drawn in Group H together with Markku Hamalainen (Finland), Raymond Fabrie (Netherlands), Farhan Mirza (Sweden), Robert Trinbacher (Austria), Matthew Bolton (Australia), Fung Kwok Wai (China Hong Kong), Robert Murphy (Ireland), Daniel Haenga (New Zealand), Atthasit Mahitthi (Thailand) and Rune Kampe (Denmark).

Grech was a beaten finalist in the world snooker championship in 1987. In Bangalore he was beaten by Darren Morgan, of Wales, 11-4. Had the Hamrun cueist won that year, it would have been a hat-trick of wins for Malta after Paul Mifsud's successive triumphs in 1985 and 1986.

Grech is in Group A. His opponents are: Gavin Pantall (Wales), Charl Jonck (South Africa), Takao Kurimoto (Japan), Mario Wehrmann (Netherlands), Mohamed M. Sheheab (UAE), Saleh Mohammed (Pakistan), Phil Barnes (Germany), Cai Jiangzhong (China), Kieran McMahon (N. Ireland) and Roger Ng (Papua New Guinea).

Matches during the group stages will be best-of-seven; last 32 and last 16 best-of-nine; quarter-finals best-of-11; semi-finals best-of-15; and the final, scheduled for December 4, will be best-of-21 frames.