Borg wins first ranking event of season

Malta champion Alex Borg, of Juventutis Domus, won the first ranking tournament of the season organised by the Malta Billiards & Snooker Association (MBSA) which came to a close last weekend in Ħamrun.

Borg beat 18-year-old Thurston Grixti, of Jesmond Sports Club, 5-0. This was Grixti's first final in a ranking event.

Borg took a 4-0 lead going into the mid-session interval, constructing breaks of 43, and two of 93. On resumption, Borg quickly obtained the frame he wanted with a run of 53.

At the end of the match, Joe Caruana Curran, MBSA president, presented the trophies to the finalists.

On the provisional ranking list, Borg has now extended his lead to 800 points. He has 2,800, followed by Duncan Bezzina, 2,000, and Simon Zammit, 1,950.

Borg will be in the UK this week to participate in the fourth tournament from the Pontins International Open Series (PIOS) which is being played in Prestatyn, Wales. He is currently no.23 in the PIOS rankings while Tony Drago is 35th.

Borg will then travel to Wels, Austria, where he will join Zammit and Tony Mifsud for the 2008 IBSF World Championships.

Also making the trip to Wels will be referee Emeric Ellul. He is scheduled to control some of the matches. Caruana Curran will join the Maltese group to attend the IBSF annual general meeting on November 6.