Malta obtained its first victory in the World Cup in Thailand yesterday as Tony Drago and Alex Borg defeated James Wattana and Dechawat Poomjaeng 3-2.

In their earlier two matches, Malta had lost by the similar score of 3-2 against China and Australia.

Following this win, the Malta team now stands a good chance of reaching the quarterfinals. But they have to defeat the United Arab Emirates team today in their final qualifying match. Malta’s opponents today are considered to be the weakest in this group.

However, it is still an open group as Australia, China and Thailand are still in contention with the Aussies leading the group with two wins.

In yesterday’s match, Thailand snatched the first frame when James Wattana beat Tony Drago after potting a very difficult last red and then clearing the table. Alex Borg then beat Dechawat Poomjaeng to level matters. And the Maltese went shead after winning the doubles encounter. Borg then clinched the match when he beat James Wattana in the first of the reverse singles frames, but in the final frame, Dechawat Poomjaeng beat Drago on the black to make it 3-2.