The European Pool championship will get under way tomorrow at the Corinthia Jerma Palace Hotel in Marsascala where England will be defending the title won last year in Jersey.

Malta had won the event in the year 2002, when it was also organized in Malta.

Among the professional players in the England team will be Mick Hill, Darren Appleton, Jason Twist and Lee Kendall.

Other top players from Scotland, Wales and Ireland will be taking part. In all, ten countries will be participating. In fact, there will also be teams from the Channel Islands, N. Ireland, Belgium, France, Portugal and, of course, Malta.

The Malta teams will consist of the following:

Malta A: Antoine Cuschieri, Ivan Rizzo, Mario Vasasallo, Clayton Attard, Duncan Bezzina and Ray Demanuele.

Malta B: Kevin Mercieca, Mario Brincat, Mario Cutajar, Christ Tabone, Wayne Bonnici, Marcel Micallef.

Juniors: Miguel Falzon, Jurgen Attard, Shawn Agius, Clint Chircop, Wayne Farrugia, Matthew Ferriggi.

Wheelchairs: Brian Borg, Joe Cardona, Josef Portelli.

The following will be taking part in the individual championship: Kenneth Grech, Joseph Tabone, Roderick Tanti, Richard Cuschieri, Warren Attard, Rudolph Gellel, Mario Scicluna, Philip Ciantar and Manuel Mallia. In the juniors event, there will also be Malcolm Azzopardi, John Paul Mifsud, Shawn Grech, Clayton Xuereb, Mevrick Zammit, Ryan Julian Barbara and Christian Coleiro.

Karen Grech is taking part in the women’s category.

Carmel Cilia is in charge of Malta A, Manuel Lauro is in charge of Malta B, while the juniors team is in the hands of Saviour Mifsud. Lino Lauro will take charge of the wheelchairs team.

The Maltese contingent also includes four referees who are Pasquale Sciberras, Simon Galdes, Anthony Hatherley and Antoine Scerri. It is led by Carmel Cilia and Vincent Degiorgio, president and general secretary respectively of the association. The director of this European Championship is Vincent Degiorgio.

The opening ceremony is to be held tomorrow at 2.30pm. Play starts at 5pm with the Teams A and B championships. The finals of all categories will be staged on Friday starting at 9am. The closing ceremony and presentation will also be held on Friday during a special dinner for all participants.

All local enthusiasts are invited to watch the matches and support the local players. Admission into the hall is free of charge.