The Malta Cup is still being played for by the top world professionals this season.
The Malta Independent learned yesterday that the Invitational tournament that is planned to be staged instead of the usual Ranking tournament, will still be played for the Malta Cup.
This will certainly add to the prestige of the tournament which is expected to attract the world’s top stars. The venue will be the usual Portomaso Conference Centre, which is one of the great favourites of all the game’s top players.
This newspaper also learned yesterday that the planned Invitational tournament will be played on a completely different format than that of a ranking tournament. In fact, it is planned to be a 20-man event with four groups of five players. The top two in each group will advance to the quarter-finals.
This format ensures that all the players will, at least, play four matches, and there will be no one playing just one match – as is the case in Ranking events – and returning home immediately.
It is known that the World Snooker Association had made a survey in Germany to see whether the public preferred an Invitational tournament rather than a Ranking event, and 75 per cent of those attending the matches in the last tournament there, said they preferred an Invitational event, simply because they saw their favourites much more in action.
The Malta Independent learned yesterday that the Invitational tournament that is planned to be staged instead of the usual Ranking tournament, will still be played for the Malta Cup.
This will certainly add to the prestige of the tournament which is expected to attract the world’s top stars. The venue will be the usual Portomaso Conference Centre, which is one of the great favourites of all the game’s top players.
This newspaper also learned yesterday that the planned Invitational tournament will be played on a completely different format than that of a ranking tournament. In fact, it is planned to be a 20-man event with four groups of five players. The top two in each group will advance to the quarter-finals.
This format ensures that all the players will, at least, play four matches, and there will be no one playing just one match – as is the case in Ranking events – and returning home immediately.
It is known that the World Snooker Association had made a survey in Germany to see whether the public preferred an Invitational tournament rather than a Ranking event, and 75 per cent of those attending the matches in the last tournament there, said they preferred an Invitational event, simply because they saw their favourites much more in action.
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