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Snooker champion Alex Borg talks to Kevin Grech
At what age did you start to play snooker?
 I started to notice the game when I was eight years old. I used to go to the Imperial band club in Mellieha and was fascinated when I used to watch the adults play. The club had a small table but it was good enough for the young me to get a try when the adults were not looking as they were scared I was going to damage the billiard table. It could have even been the colours of the balls that used to get my attention at that young age.
Who inspired you to start playing, and how much time did you dedicate to playing snooker?
When I started to go to the parish centre for religion classes, they had a small snooker table as well. That is when I started to learn the game. In the meantime the Imperial band club invested in a full-size snooker table, and at the age of 10 I started to play with my uncle Karmnu. At this time the adults started to notice that I had a talent for snooker. I started to play about four hours at a time with my uncle.
At 12 I started to play at the MLP club in Mellieha. Obviously they noticed the talent that I had. Playing snooker cost a lot of money especially for a young boy to play for long periods, but when you have a gift some people notice, and I was very lucky that I was noticed. The President of the MLP club Michael Buttigieg gave me the chance to practise and I used to play for as much as eight hours at a time when I had the chance. I am very grateful to these people for helping me out.
When did you decide to take the game seriously?
At that time my goal was to win the MLP club competition. I was winning numerous competitions at small levels. After moving up the ranks at a fast pace, at 17 I reached the Malta Championship final against Joe Grech in 1987. I lost against Joe, as at that time Grech was a high-ranking player in the snooker world and in 1987 he was IBSF World Snooker Championship runner-up. I never looked back and from then on I had a goal and that was to be the best snooker player that I could be.
In 1991 the World Snooker Association opened its doors, and reduced a lot of restrictions as they noticed that there was a lot of young talent in the snooker world. I was one of 300 players that turned professional. Since there were a lot of players taking part in competitions I used to have to travel to Blackpool for six weeks at a time to take part in qualifying rounds to reach the final stages of competitions.
I continued doing this from 1991 to 1996 and I could not take part in local competitions because of certain restrictions, so I could only take part in international games.
In 1996 the World Snooker Association saw that it was not right that players sometimes had to stay up to three months in Blackpool, so they changed the rules again.
They decided the top 128 would continue and the others were demoted to amateur status. At that time I was number 141 so I was demoted. I managed to qualify again but then in the meantime the World Snooker Association changed the rules yet again and said the top 80 would automatically qualify and the other 16 would get qualifying places by winning various competitions, for example the European championship. At that time I was number 108 and was out again.
Did it prove challenging to go up in the rankings?
The rules kept on changing and in 1996 I was given the chance to compete again in the Malta Championships. This was my key to Europe as when I won the Malta final I would then be able to compete in the European Championship. When a player wins the European championship he gets an automatic place in the Snooker Championship tour.
The more professional competitions you play the more points you get, so I believe it is important to play in as many competitions as you can.
After placing runner up at the 2004 European Snooker Championship I tried again in 2005 and finally was crowned 2005 European Champion, as well as becoming part of the top 96 in Europe on the Championship tour.
I was very close to pulling out from the final due to the recent death of my father. My father was very close to me and used to be with me at all my local and international competitions. But my mother and family convinced me to continue as my father would have wanted me to do so. I dedicated this win to my father.
Does it bother you that Tony Drago is on the Tour as well?
No absolutely not, Tony being on the tour would be a great advantage for me since Tony is a highly ranked player and has been on the tour since 1984. We are very good friends and I can only learn from a person like Tony. I can play against Tony in the later stages. As Tony is ranked 34 I have to play three qualifying rounds before I have a chance to meet Drago.
Do young snooker players have enough resources to aid them in the sport?
I don’t think Malta has many resources for more young players to develop skills in snooker and learn the game. At the moment these tables are basically available in political clubs and band clubs. We need specific places in a good environment, where a student can train and learn from others.
To bring up more professionals, kids need somebody to coach and teach them the game. If you have a boy, you cannot just assume that he wants to play football, he might be a really good snooker player.
It worries me because I don’t see a good future for snooker in Malta. We have good young players but we have to give them the opportunity and teach them. In Malta we invest a lot of money in certain sports and it is about time some is invested in snooker”
You are also the only player from the top 96 in the tour that does not play full-time…
Yes. The time I will be putting in the game will be like a full-time job, but I have to thank Maltacom for giving me the time I need to go and compete. When you have resources and help like the other players, it makes the competition a bit easier.
The prize winning money has gone down from around GBP6 million to just GBP3.5 million. The effect of tobacco sponsorship pulling out from the competitions due to the new advertising laws have hurt the game in a big way financially. This is also a worrying factor in the game.
What other projects do you have now?
I am currently the coach of the national snooker team in Poland. I went to Poland a number of times before the European championship to coach individual players and I was liked very much in Poland so I will try to continue coaching and competing in the world tour.
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