Alex Borg tasted sweet revenge against Kristjan Helgason of Iceland yesterday as he outclassed his opponent 7-2 in the final to win the title of 2005 European Champion.

The man from Iceland had beaten Malta in the 1998 final in Finland with the same scoreline, but this time, Borg came out clearly on top.

It was Borg who settled into the match very quickly taking a four-nil lead by the end of the first session.

With frame scores of 84 (49)-47 (39), 66-37, 81-31, 72 (47)-34 to Borg, it was a disappointed Icelander who went out for the break, knowing he needed to take some frames when the match continued, to make up his 4-0 deficit and stop the match running away from him.

Borg, however, had other ideas and also won the fifth frame to extend his lead. Helgason, however, switched a gear to win the sixth frame but Borg quickly cancelled this out by winning frame seven and taking him only one frame away from winning the title at 6-1.

Helgason was not finished, however, and took the eighth frame for 6-2 but this turned out to be only a token resistance, as Borg took the frame he needed for a 7-2 victory and the title he had been close to winning on two other occasions.

Alex now receives a well deserved place on the Main Tour.