Five Maltese players for Euro Championships

A record 141 players from 31 countries will be taking part in the 2009 European Championships between June 4 and 13 in Duffel, Belgium.

The Malta Billiards and Snooker Association will be represented by five players, namely, national champion Alex Borg, Clayton Castaldi and Tony Drago, in the Open, and Tony Mifsud and Arthur Cachia in the Masters.

Joe Caruana Curran, MBSA president, will attend the European Billiards and Snooker Association's AGM on June 11 during which he will present a bid for Malta to host the 2010 championships.

In the same meeting, Caruana Curran is expected to be appointed vice chairman of the EBSA for the next two years.

Borg who won these championships in 2005 and 2006 has been drawn in Group H together with A. Mannila (Finland), D. Hogan (Ireland), I. Halldorson (Iceland), J. Van den Bossche (Belgium), M. Zielinski (Poland) and N. Viacheslav (Ukraine).

Castaldi is in Group F together with G. Hreigorsson (Iceland), K. Lucas (Czech Rep.), M. Geudens (Belgium), P. Williams (Wales), R. Stolk (Netherlands) and S. Henrikas (Lithuania).

Drago plays in Group C against A. Burden (England), A. Budnik (Belarus), L. Heirewegh (Belgium), P. Einsle (Germany), S. Novak (Croatia) and Y. Poulain (France).

Three players from each group will go through into the last 32 knock-out stage.

Besides the honour, the winner of the championships will be awarded a direct berth in the 2009/10 World Snooker Main Tour.

Meanwhile, before the championships get under way, Borg, Castaldi and Drago, along with Thurston Grixti and Duncan Pisani, will figure in the Euro Tour with the winner awarded a direct place in next season's Main Tour. The Euro Tour will be played on June 2 and 3.