Borg almost through

Alex Borg is almost through to the knockout stages of the IBSF World Championship in Holland and Joe Grech yesterday retained his slim chances of qualifying after a comprehensive 4-0 over Gavin Pantall.

Pantall, of Wales, is among the leading favourites in Group A and should claim one of the four berths with two more qualifiers to go. He has six wins from eight matches so far (8-6). Grech, who hit breaks of 67 and 55 yesterday, is a rank outsider with a modest 8-4 record.

The Hamrun player's next two opponents are well within his range though. Today, he plays Dutchman Mario Wehrman, who has a 7-3 record, and tomorrow faces Takao Kurimoto, of Japan (7-1). Both are out of the reckoning.

Meanwhile, Borg is leading Group H after beating Robert Murphy, of Ireland, 4-1.

Borg has been in scintillating form and now requires two more frames from his last two matches to secure a place in the knockout stages.

There has been 57 century breaks so far. The highest break belongs to Manan Chandra, of India. He potted a 146.