Malta mania

The Mosconi Cup, which has developed into a major sporting occasion, starts today in St Julian's, from Billiards Digest:

After the loss at the 2007 Mosconi Cup, held on U.S. soil for the first time, the American team was criticized as distracted and disconnected. While the Europeans gelled with an "us versus the world" mentality, the Americans appeared five individuals unable to become a team.

The Europeans enter the 2008 PartyPoker.com Mosconi Cup — running today through Sunday at the Hilton Hotel in Portomaso, Malta — as a confident squad, both as a team and individual performers. Two world champs — Ralf Souquet in 8-ball and Niels Feijen in 14.1 — join two major title holders, with Mika Immonen the U.S. Open champ and Tony Drago the winner of the Predator International 10-Ball event. Europe's final roster spot is filled by Mark Gray, a former snooker pro who spent a year atop the EuroTour rankings.

Tonight's matches get started at 8 p.m. local time (2 p.m. Eastern Standard Time). The competition will begin will a team match, then there will be two doubles matches and a singles set.