The Malta Cup, one of the most prestigious premier sporting events organised on a regular basis on the island, will be staged at the Malta Hilton Conference Centre between 28 January and 4 February.

The event will again see the world’s top players, including world champion Graeme Dott, Ken Doherty, winner of last year’s event and current world No. 1, Ronnie O’Sullivan, Stephen Hendry, Steve Davis, John Higgins and a host of others who have become synonymous with the game of snooker in the last few years.

Among them will be Malta star Tony Drago who will play at least the first of three possible qualifying matches on 28 January, along with wild cards Simon Zammit and Guzi Grech. These early round matches will be played on the same day.

Addressing a Press Conference yesterday at midday, Joe Zammit, director of Snooker Promotions (Malta), said: “Despite great competition from several countries around the world vying to stage a world ranking event, we are once again proud to be able to stage one of the few top class snooker tournaments in the world. The Malta Cup is only one of the two ranking events that are staged outside the UK this season, and we know that the event ranks very highly in the players’ personal lists of preferred events.”

Zammit added that it was possible to stage this year’s event because of the involvement of the sponsors, namely, the Malta Tourism Authority, Air Malta and the Hilton Hotel. This year another important and prestigious sponsor, Vodafone Malta, has also added their name to the list of sponsors.

More details

Richard Balani, director of Snooker Promotions, explained that the popularity of the game of snooker had increased once again, mostly due to the extensive coverage on Eurosport, which is received worldwide by over 255 million households.

He said last year’s Malta Cup event had attracted a large number of foreigners – at least 50 per cent. “We have already received several enquiries from all over Europe about tickets for the event. This interest has encouraged us to set up our own online ticket booking facilities on our website www.maltacup.org, which will actually go ‘live’ as from today. Both Maltese and overseas snooker fans will be able to book the best seats immediately, on a block ticket basis or also on a day ticket basis. We are also providing full travel packages for our overseas fans – offering them a ‘one stop shop’ – to make it easier for them to come to Malta to watch the snooker. So far we have had enquiries from the UK, Germany, Holland, France, Belgium, Austria, Switzerland, Poland, Ukraine, Russia and Kazakhstan. Many of these have already confirmed their trips to Malta and are waiting to buy their snooker tickets when our online shop goes live,” he said.

The tournament will be played on the usual 32-man knockout format, plus three qualifiers which have been held over to be played here. Joe Grech and Simon Zammit are being given the chance to play as ‘wild cards’ in this event. They will play against the lowest two ranked players who qualify for this event in Malta, namely, Andrew Higginson and David Roe.

Three other last 32 matches (Round 1) will also be played on this day. On Monday 29, the winner of the Drago – Spick match will play the last 64 qualifier against John Parrott, along with five other Round 1 matches. Tuesday 30 will see the last of the qualifiers with Michael Holt, as well as five other Round 1 matches.

The last three matches of the last 32 round will be played on Wednesday 31, along with three of the Last 16 round, while on Thursday 1 February, there will be the other five Last 16 matches played out. Till this stage, 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 2 February starting at 4 pm, all matches best of nine.

Both semi-finals will be played on a one table setup on 3 February, at 3pm and 8pm, best of 11 frames, while the final will be contested on Sunday 4 February. This will be played over two sessions, one at 2pm and the second at 7pm, and will be best of 17 frames.

All the matches of the Malta Cup will be controlled by five international snooker referees, three of whom are Maltese. These are Michael Attard Montalto, Terry Camilleri and Ray Debattista.

Block and Day Tickets will be available at Lm35 and Lm5-Lm8 through the organisers’ website, www.malta cup.org. The ticket office at the Hilton Conference Centre will open on 22 January.

Prize-money

The prize fund this year has been doubled and has reached a total figure of £200,500. The winner will get £30,000 and the runner-up and the losing semi-finalists get £7,5,00 each. Losing quarter-finalists stand to earn £5,600, while £4,000 go to a Last 16 place. There are other prizes of £2,500, £1,625 and £1,100 for the Last 32, Last 48 and Last 64 stages of the tournament.

Moreover, a sum of £20,000 is reserved for that player who compiles the maximum break of 147 in the Malta finals (stage two).

Should more than one player achieve a maximum break or highest break, the prize will be shared.

Extensive TV coverage

The event will be covered extensively by television, both local as well as international. Eurosport, will also be broadcasting the event on a live and recorded basis, extending the tournament’s reach to over 95 countries.

Mike Ganley, Tournament Director of World Snooker was the guest of the organisers at yesterday’s press conference. He said his organization was glad to be staging another ranking event in Malta. He added: “It’s one of the highlights of the calendar for the players and officials because of the warm hospitality we receive”.

“This will be the eighth time we have staged a ranking event on the island and we are always guaranteed enthusiastic support from the knowledgeable Maltese fans.”

He said he had no doubt that the tournament will be of the highest quality as was the case last year. “Ken Doherty’s 9-8 victory over John Higgins in the final was a classic match,” he said.

“Doherty and Higgins will again be in contention for the title, as well as the likes of Ronnie O’Sullivan, Stephen Hendry, Steve Davis and World Champion Graeme Dott. And of course the local interest is provided by Maltese legend Tornado Tony Drago plus wild cards Simon Zammit and Joe Grech,” he added.

“Our thanks go to the Malta Tourism Authority for their support, which is a key element in the financing of the event.”

In the name of World Snooker, Ganley also thanked the Malta Hilton, TVM and Eurosport as well as Snooker Promotions.

The Press Conference was also addressed by Kevin Drake, personal assistant to the Chairman of the Malta Tourism Authority, Jimmy Attard, Section Head, Marketing Services of Air Malta, who again confirmed the airline’s continued support, and Alison Bezzina, who said Vodafone Malta were pleased to have become associated with this event, certainly, one of the most prestigious international sporting tournaments held here.