The line-up: 8 - 37 - 17 - 152 - 36

No, I have not lost my reckoning or my bearing as these figures are correlated to a grand line-up of snooker personalities who will soon be challenging for the fourth ranking title on the current World Snooker Association Main Tour - the Malta Cup.

Yes, it's getting closer. January 28 will be the onset of eight days of top competition being staged at the Hilton Conference Centre with the grand finale programmed for February 4.

Initially there will be 37 players, all hoping luck will favour them, yet, it will be more a matter of facing reality where the talent and supremacy of the fittest will triumph on the day.

There are well-established names, with others who enjoy less fame and also a number of unknowns. Yet, their current positive standing gave them all the right to be worthy challengers of the prize at stake.

This international gathering of players hails from eight different countries representing a variation of dimensions, populations, cultures and traditions.

Yet, the beauty of the game is that on the occasion they are all Masters of the Green Baize keen to entertain and give the crowd present at the playing arena and the millions watching at their homes in the 51 different countries, where the television beam of Eurosport reaches, thrilling moments which makes snooker such an easy, yet fascinating, game to follow.

This third edition of the Malta Cup represents a significant occasion in the history of world ranking tournaments sanctioned by the World Snooker Association.

It will be the 200th world ranking event since the first such tournament was recognised to begin accrediting snooker players with such titles.

199 ranking events were held over a 33-year span which has produced 41 different winners. Seventeen of these winners, who between them pride themselves of 152 victories, will be contesting this Malta appointment.

A grand 36-match snooker spectacle with two sessions of play on each day of the week is set.

On the first six days of the tournament, from Sunday up to Friday, the two sessions start at 4 and 8 p.m. Play on these days will take the event from Round One to the Quarter-Finals.

On Saturday, the semi-finals day, the two sessions will start at 3 and 8 p.m. The two sessions of the final, on Sunday, start at 2 and 7 p.m.

A full playing programme together with other useful information on the tournament may be seen on www.maltacup.org

During the tournament the playing arena will be presenting three different table settings.

A three-table set-up will be applied for the qualifying and first round matches - 29 in all. For the quarter-finals, a two-table set-up will be applied while a one-table set-up will be presented for the two semi-finals and final.

Meanwhile, block tickets, available from Café Veneziana in Valletta; Kids' Korner in Hamrun; and 9 Ball Café Snooker Hall in Qawra, are selling well. A positive response has also been met by the online sale tickets through the tournament's website, where a good number of overseas snooker enthusiasts have purchased tickets to attend the event.

Turning figures into facts, the names we come across present an outstanding array of players whose achievements and records really make the 2007 Malta Cup a thrilling event to look forward to.

Players in 2007 Malta Cup

Scotland 5
Stephen Hendry (36); John Higgins (17); Stephen Maguire (2); Graeme Dott (1); Marcus Campbell

England 20
Steve Davis (28); Ronnie O'Sullivan (18); John Parrott (9); Peter Ebdon (7); Stephen Lee (4); Nigel Bond (1); Shaun Murphy (1); Mark King; Anthony Hamilton; Michael Holt; Barry Hawkins; Allister Carter; Robert Milkins; Stuart Bingham; Ricky Walden; Tom Ford; Rod Lawler; David Roe; Lee Spick; Andrew Higginson

Wales 3
Mark Williams (16), Matthew Stevens (1); Ryan Day

Ireland 3
Ken Doherty (6); Fergal O'Brien (1); Michael Judge

Malta 3
Tony Drago, Joe Grech, Simon Zammit

Australia 1
Neil Robertson (1)

China 1
Ding Junhui (3)

Hong Kong 1
Marco Fu

NB: In brackets number of ranking titles won. Joe Grech and Simon Zammit are Malta Cup wild card entries.

The Malta Cup is organised by Snooker Promotions (Malta) and sanctioned by World Snooker, while the Malta Tourism Authority, Air Malta, Hilton Malta and Vodafone Malta are the tournament's main local sponsors.