The Malta Billiards and Snooker Association (MBSA) celebrated its launch of Malta’s official Snooker academy at the Maria Assumpta Complex in Ħamrun, last week.

The project which cost around €700,000 and close to two years of construction to complete aims to create a high level facility for players and snooker enthusiasts alike to attend or take their children to train at.

The Association invited some of the greatest names in Maltese Billiards and Snooker to the event as it celebrated having players such as Alex Borg, former billiards world champion Joe Grech, billiards and two-time snooker world champion Pawlu Mifsud as well as former world number ten Tony Drago in the association’s history books.

Parliamentary secretary for Sport Clifton Grima inaugurated the facility. He said that a project such as this provides local snooker fans with an incentive to start playing the sport, which in time would increase the number of players in Malta.

MBSA president Frans Bugeja referred to the academy as a place for those interested in playing snooker in a professional atmosphere. He stressed that great attention was being given to things such as the snooker tables themselves which have been chosen similar to those used by world class players like Ronnie O’Sullivan, as well as adequate lighting for the tables which adhere to international standards.

“Despite winning the largest number of international honours across all Maltese sports to day, local snooker players still found themselves at a disadvantage when playing in competitions abroad in the past,” the MBSA chief said.

“This was mainly because their training conditions back home were not professional enough. I hope that this academy will bring about a change which puts Maltese players on a level playing field with players coming from much larger countries.”

Bugeja claimed that the number of young snooker players is continuously decreasing.

“The number of young players in Malta is currently very low and the first aim for us is to have a group of young players within three or four years time, who have trained at this academy and who are able to compete,” Bugeja said.

“With that achieved, we can start aiming for bigger things.”

He heaped praise to Isaac Borg who is following in his father’s footsteps. Borg currently plays in the Premier Division in Malta and has already taken part in the U-18 and U-21 European Championships.

Two-time European champion Alex Borg, who was vital to the creation of the Snooker Academy, will be administrating it while other world renowned players such as Tony Drago will take on a more influential role.

 “The academy is state of the art,” Borg said.

“The snooker tables here are the same ones we are used to seeing on television, in international tournaments.

“I think the professional equipment and the organisation behind this academy should help the project to become a success.

“No doubt having household names of the games such as Tony Drago and myself, who played snooker at the highest level, will be of great inspiration to those attending the academy.” Another aspect the MBSA seeks to improve is the low number of qualified coaches within the Maltese game.

To do this, Borg explained how the academy’s goal is to bring in international coaches to Malta to train new personnel in order to expand the number of Maltese qualified coaches as time goes by.

Parliamentary Secretary Grima described the academy as a neutral area away from band clubs or those representing political parties for players to train and compete.

The limitation of having to practice at one of the latter clubs has kept a number of potential players from expressing themselves. He said that players who do not feel comfortable playing at these clubs or bars, now have a much more professional facility at their disposal.

The facility houses seven professional snooker tables for adults as well as five smaller ones for players as young as six years old.

Hon. Grima insisted that having players of such a tender age is vital as it helps them grow with the sport forming a mentality which helps them in their lives even outside of snooker.

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