Who will be the first?

Four editions of the European Open and one Rothmans Grand Prix - five world ranking tournaments held in Malta over the past nine years with each and every one considered a memorable event for all concerned: organisers, winners, sponsors, participants and the loyal snooker aficionado.

Yet, the forthcoming world event tournament on our shores is singular and most significant for us Maltese, whether followers of snooker or not.

For this manifestation, which has at stake a prize-fund of £200,000 with £30,000 going to the winner, presents a unique identity - this is the Malta Cup.

In a world where sport today goes much more beyond being a 'pleasant and relaxing activity', this branding connotation with Malta carries more weight than all the honours and prizes the tournament presents.

Snooker is definitely a major world sport with a strong following and financial support, particularly in the United Kingdom and in the former British Empire satellites.

The World Snooker Association (WSA) calendar, comprising the Grand Prix, the British Open, the Travis Perkins UK Championship, the Welsh Open, the Irish Masters, The Masters, the Embassy World Championship and the Malta Cup is extensively promoted, resulting in overflowing lucrative activities in various spheres such as travel, gaming and souvenirs.

Television and on-line exposure is another principal characteristic in snooker.

Currently the governing body of the sport, the WSA, enjoys a deal with Eurosport which comprises 200 hours of broadcasting for its tournaments. This is definitely of tremendous benefit to the sport.

"The deal will bring us a footprint into 51 different territories, with a reach of 95 million homes across Europe, North Africa and the Middle East. Snooker's popularity on a global scale is increasing rapidly and this will assist us in our goal to bring the game to new audiences.

"Moving into so many territories will also open up new markets for potential sponsors," remarked a WSA spokesman at the announcement of this TV deal.

Wide exposure

So, how does Malta feature in this scenario?

The Malta Cup will be endowed with approximately 20 hours of live transmission on Eurosport which will comprise Malta-flavoured footage made up of intros, interviews and graphics.

Twenty hours of exposure on Europe's largest sport gist network, acclaimed as the no.1 sport channel in 51 European markets and boasting 21 million viewers a day, is definitely a 147-break for Malta.

The Malta Cup is an event of magnitude which gives our country a distinctive branding image of a leader in the staging of international events.

Through a 'pleasant and relaxing' sport we have an opportunity to promote our tourism, our facilities and hospitality, options we certainly cannot take lightly or undervalue.

And besides, we will be enjoying thrilling encounters between the world's top 16 players and 16 other qualifiers.

Among these there will be four of the five past winners of world ranking events held in Malta - John Higgins (1997), Stephen Hendry (2001) and Stephen Maguire (2004) in the European Open series, and Ken Doherty winner of the 2000 Rothmans Grand Prix which was also endowed with a world ranking status.

The missing past champion will be John Parrott. He won the 1996 European Open at the Mediter-ranean Conference Centre.

Yet, this being the first Malta Cup the players who have already tasted success in Malta will be at no advantage on the other contenders.

For players the like of Ronnie O'Sullivan, Mark Williams, Steve Davies, Steve Davies, Jimmy White, Peter Ebdon, Tony Drago and all the others will be giving their best in their endeavour to become the first winner of this new tournament.

One hopes that this 2005 edition at the Hilton Malta Conference Centre in Portomaso, between January 31 and February 6, will be the first of many future editions of the Malta Cup.

Definitely, these are the aspirations of one and all, particularly of Snooker Promotions, who made such a dream become a reality.