National champion Alex Borg is the winner of the second Malta Billiards and Snooker Association (MBSA) ranking tournament which came to a close last week at the Pinto Band Club, Qormi.

Borg, who represents Juventutis Domus club of Żejtun, had the better of Simon Zammit, of Jesmond Sporting Club (Ħamrun) 6-2 in the final.

Borg thus made it a double over Zammit, having beating him 6-4 in the final of the first ranking event.

It was Zammit who took the first frame in the final, 55-42, but Borg produced a break of 75 to level the score.

Zammit went 2-1 ahead after winning the third frame, 69-32, but Borg clinched the fourth with a break of 68 and forged ahead for the first time when Zammit missed an easy green.

After the break, Borg found his touch, potting breaks of 80 and a total clearance of 136 to win the next three frames and the match 6-2.

The final was controlled by referee Willie Mifsud. At the end of the match, Joe Caruana Curran, president of the Malta Billiards & Snooker Association, presented the trophies to the finalists.

In the MBSA provisional ranking list, Borg now has a leading total of 3,450 points. He is followed by Duncan Bezzina on 2,350 and Zammit on 2,300 points.

Frame scores: (Borg first, breaks in brackets): 42-55, 105(75)-11, 39-62, 90(68)-9, 77(45)-48, 90(80)-43, 136(136)-0, 73-40.

National Championships

The National Snooker Championships got underway yesterday. A total of 162 players have registered to participate in seven categories - premier, first, second, third, U-19, U-16 and masters (O-40).

The Premier Division is being contested by 20 players with defending champion Borg bidding for his eighth consecutive title.

Twelve clubs are challenging for the honours in the teams' championship.