Block tickets for The Malta Cup, the 32-man knockout world ranking snooker tournament being held at the Hilton Conference Centre in Portomaso, between Monday 31 January and Sunday 6 February will be on sale as from tomorrow.

These will be available from Café Veneziana in Melita Street, Valletta; Kids’ Korner in High Street, Hamrun; Munch Café in Sliema Road, Gzira; The Billiard Shop in B’kara By-Pass, Balzan; and 9 Ball Café Snooker Hall, in Triq it-Turisti, Qawra.

Block tickets for the whole seven-day tournament, comprising 37 matches, will cost Lm25.

The opening day of the tournament, Saturday 31 January will be reserved for the four ‘wild card’ matches and to five other last 32 (Round 1) matches.

Tony Drago’s match and five other Round 1 matches will be played on 1 February, with the remaining six on 2 February.

The last 16 round will be played on 3 February. Here all matches will be played on a three table set-up and will be on a best of nine frame basis.

The quarter-finals will see the set-up changed to a two-table format and these will be played on 4 February starting at 4 pm, all matches best of nine.

Both semi-finals will be played on a one-table set-up on 5 February, at 3pm and 8pm, best of 11 frames, while the final will be contested on Sunday 6. This will be played over two sessions, the first at 2pm and the second at 7pm, and will be over a best of 17 frames.

The current world’s top 16 players and 16 other qualifiers will contest The Malta Cup, a world ranking event on the prestigious calendar of the World Snooker Association.