No, I have not lost my reckoning or my bearing as these figures are correlated to a grand line-up of snooker personalities who will soon be challenging for the fourth ranking title on the current World Snooker main tour - The Malta Cup.

Yes, it’s getting closer. Sunday 28 January will be the onset of eight days of top competition being staged at the Hilton Conference Centre with the grand finale programmed for Sunday 4 February.

Initially there will be 37 players, all hoping luck will favour them yet it will be more a matter of facing reality where the talent and supremacy of the fittest will triumph on the day. There are well established names, with others who enjoy less fame and also a number of unknowns. Yet their current positive standing gave them all the right to be worthy challengers of the prize at stake.

This international gathering of players hails from eight different countries representing a variation of dimensions, populations, cultures and traditions. Yet, the beauty of the game is that on the occasion they are all Masters of the Green Baize keen to entertain and give the crowd present at the playing arena and the millions watching at their homes in the 51 different countries, where the television beam of Eurosport reaches, thrilling moments which makes snooker such an easy yet fascinating game to follow.

This third edition of the Malta Cup represents a significant occasion in the history of world ranking tournaments sanctioned by the World Snooker. It will be the 200th World Ranking event since the first such tournament was recognised to begin accrediting players with such titles. 199 rankings held over a 33-years span which has produced 41 different winners. Seventeen of these winners, who between them pride themselves of 152 rankings, will be contesting this Malta appointment.

Yes, a grand 36-match snooker spectacle with two sessions of play on each day of the week is set. On the first six days of the tournament, from Sunday up to Friday, the two sessions start at 4pm and at 8pm. Play on these days will take the event from its Round 1 to the Quarter Final stage. On Saturday the Semi-Finals day, the two sessions will start at 3pm and at 8pm. The two sessions of the Final on Sunday start at 2pm and at 7pm. A full playing programme together with other useful information on the tournament may be seen on the website www.maltacup.org.

During the tournament the playing arena will be presenting three different table settings. A three- table set-up will be applied for the qualifying and First Round 29-matches. For the Quarter-Finals four-matches a two table set-up will be applied while a 1 table setup will be presented for the two semi-Finals and the Final.

Meanwhile, Block Tickets which are available from Café Veneziana in Melita Street, Valletta from Kids’ Korner in High Street, Hamrun and from 9 Ball Café Snooker Hall in Triq it-Turisti, Qawra are selling well. A positive response has also been met by the online sale tickets through the tournament’s website, where a good number of overseas snooker enthusiasts have purchased tickets to attend the event.

Turning figures into facts, the names we come across present an outstanding array of players whose achievements and records really make the forthcoming Malta Cup a thrilling event to look forward to.

The Malta Cup is organised by Snooker Promotions (Malta) and sanctioned by World Snooker, while the Malta Tourism Authority, Air Malta, Hilton Malta and Vodafone Malta are the event’s main local sponsors.

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The players and their country of origin

Scotland 5: Stephen Hendry (36)*; John Higgins (17); Stephen Maguire (2); Graeme Dott (1); Marcus Campbell.

England 20: Steve Davis (28); Ronnie O’Sullivan (18); John Parrott (9); Peter Ebdon (7); Stephen Lee (4); Nigel Bond (1); Shaun Murphy (1); Mark King; Anthony Hamilton; Michael Holt; Barry Hawkins; Allister Carter; Robert Milkins; Stuart Bingham; Ricky Walden; Tom Ford; Rod Lawler; David Roe; Lee Spick; Andrew Higginson.

Wales 3: Mark Williams (16), Matthew Stevens (1); Ryan Day.

Ireland 3: Ken Doherty (6); Fergal O’Brien (1); Michael Judge.

Malta 3: Tony Drago, Joe Gech**, Simon Zammit**

Australia 1: Neil Robertson (1)

China 1: Ding Junhui (3)

Hong Kong 1: Marco Fu

* denotes number of ranking titles won; ** wild cards