The Hilton Conference Centre will again be the host venue of the 2008 Malta Cup, the fourth in the series, which starts today with a new format and the top players in the world again in the entry list.
Maltese flavour has been added to the tournament with the participation of Tony Drago and Alex Borg as two of the four wild-cards in the competition.
Last year, Snooker Promotions, the organisers of the tournament, received the green light for the Malta Cup to be included in the World Snooker Association main tour.
When the launching was made in November, WSA Commercial Manager Neal Stevens said there was a strong support for snooker in Malta after a series of outstanding events that drew the appreciation of the world body and all those involved.
"The players enjoy playing in Malta," Stevens told reporters.
"It's important for us to continue staging events overseas in order to build snooker's fan base internationally.
"We're delighted to be working with Snooker Promotions again and looking forward to the tournament. The Maltese are so enthusiastic, the venue is superb and the atmosphere in the arena is tremendous."
The Malta Cup has always produced outstanding snooker. Last year, Shaun Murphy played superbly to capture the trophy.
The tournament last year was also notable for Stephen Hendry's achievement of scoring his 700th century break.
Murphy, who beat Ryan Day in last year's final, will be here to defend his title. The only player missing from the top 16 is Ronnie O'Sullivan.
This year the winner gets a £20,000 pay cheque and the runner-up returns with £9,000. There's a bonus of £10,000 for a maximum 147 break.
Indeed, with over 30 hours of live coverage on Eurosport, the Malta Cup is bound to be an ideal branding exercise for the country.
Last year, 34 million viewers followed the Malta Cup on Eurosport. There were 46 hours of coverage, 40 of them live transmission.
"The live coverage of last year was a good advert for the country," Richard Balani, Snooker Promotions director, told reporters.
"We are sure that once again the 2008 Malta Cup will match, if not exceed, the results obtained last year in terms of exposure."
The 20 players in the tournament, which carries no ranking points this year, have been divided into four groups of five players each with the group winners advancing to the semis.
Drago, so prominent these past few months in the nine-ball game but slipping down in the world snooker rankings, is in a hot group three that also includes Murphy, Hendry and Steve Maguire.
Borg is pitted in group one which has John Higgins labelled as favourite to reach the semi-finals.
The group matches will be played on two tables between today and Friday, ,the semi-finals will be played on Saturday and the final on Sunday.
Group matches will be best of six frames (all to be played), the semis best-of-11 and the best-of-17 final over two sessions. The semi-finals and final will be played in a one-table set-up at the Portomaso Conference Centre.
The Malta Cup is sponsored by the Malta Tourism Authority, Air Malta, Hilton Malta and Allevents Malta, which forms part of the UK based Fraser Eagle Group.
After the Malta Cup, the WSA Main Tour continues with the Welsh Open (Feb. 11-17), the China Open (March 24-30) and the World Championship (April 19-May 5).
The draw
Group 1: J. Higgins, J. Perry, A. Carter, R. Day, A. Borg.
Group 2: K. Doherty, N. Robertson, J. Swail, S. Lee, M. Fu.
Group 3: S. Murphy, S. Hendry, S. Maguire, M. Selby, T. Drago.
Group 4: G. Dott, P. Ebdon, M. Williams, D. Junhui, D. Dale.
Today's programme
Noon - Higgins vs Borg; Perry vs Day.
2 p.m. - Doherty vs Fu; Robertson vs Lee.
6 p.m. - Murphy vs Drago; Hendry vs Selby.
8 p.m. - Dott vs Dale; Ebdon vs Junhui.