A tournament for Under 16 European players is being held at the weekend at the Hotel San Antonio and spa in Bugibba, which is the main sponsor of the event.

Vince Pisani, tournament director, said yesterday eight players, among them Malta’s Thurston Grixti, will be taking part in the event.

They have been drawn in two groups, as follows:

Group A: A. Gauss (Austria), L. Brecel (Belgium), B. Cosmaciuc (Romania), D. Cook (England).

Group B: N. Godeyen (Belgium), T. Grixti (Malta), A. Westholm (Sweden) and M. Thurr (Austria).

The first two in each group will advance to the semi-finals. Group play starts on Friday with Grixti facing Thurr in his opening commitment at 11.15am. He will then play his remaining two matches on Saturday – against Westholm at 11.15am and against Godeyne at 5.15pm.

The matches for the placings, the semi-finals (best of seven frames) and the final (best of nine frames), are to be played on Sunday from 9.15am onwards.

At the end, there will be an exhibition match between top local players Alex Borg and Simon Zammit.

The aim behind the staging of the tournament is to further boost the game among the youngsters in European countries.