Malta had a winning start at the European Team Championship in Carlow, Ireland, yesterday.

The Malta team, composed of local and European champion Alex Borg, Guzi Grech and Simon Zammit, which is also the defending champion, defeated Belgium by 13 frames to 5 in its first commitment yesterday.

Alex Borg beat Ivan van Velthaven 2-0, lost 0-2 to Ivan den Bossche and beat Kevin van Hove 2-0, while Guzi Grech had two 1-1 draws against van Velthoven and den Bossche and beat van Hove 2-0. Zammit did better as he posted two 2-0 wins over den Bossche and van Hove and drew 1-1 with van Velthoven.

The Maltese, in Group 1, now have two points and Belgium have none, though it was only the first match in the group. The other teams in the group are Holland, Ireland Republic 2 and the Isle of Man.