Malta experienced mixed fortunes on the second day of the 2026 International Challenge Cup in Youghal, Republic of Ireland, suffering a 16-11 defeat against defending champions Scotland before responding with an impressive 18-9 victory over France.

The competition is decided by the total number of frames won, with 27 frames contested in each match across the Men’s, Masters and Juniors categories.

Malta began their campaign against Scotland, with Joseph Casha and Alex Borg both recording 2-1 victories over Ross Vallance and Craig MacGillivray respectively in the Men’s category.

However, Chris Peplow and John Farrugia were unable to register a frame against Dean Young and Robert Carlisle respectively as Scotland built their advantage.

In the Masters, Frans Mintoff was Malta’s only match winner, defeating Paul Shanks 2-1. Philip Ciantar, Ivan Attard and Emanuel Mallia all suffered 2-1 defeats against Keith Chalmers, Darren Gilbertson and Roger Singh respectively.

Junior representative Xavier Rizzo also went down 2-1 against Scotland’s Ayaan Iqbaal as the defending champions completed a 16-11 victory.

Malta produced a much stronger showing against France later in the day, winning 18 of the 27 frames available.

The Men’s contingent was particularly impressive, with all four Maltese players winning their respective encounters. Peplow, Borg and Farrugia recorded 3-0 victories against Regis D’Anna, Logan Rollin and Enzo Giacomarra respectively, while Casha defeated David Gauthier 2-1.

Malta also enjoyed considerable success in the Masters category. Mintoff, Attard and Mallia each registered 2-1 victories against Marc Chouillier, Gilles Grzeskowiak and Daniel Poly respectively. Ciantar was Malta’s only loser in the category, going down 2-1 against Laurent Montot.

In the Juniors, Rizzo suffered a 3-0 defeat against Malo Dory-Geffroy.

Following the second day of competition, Scotland lead the provisional standings with 52 frames.

Northern Ireland and hosts Republic of Ireland are level on 46, while Malta occupy fourth place with 28 frames, having played one match fewer than the other leading nations. France are fifth with 17 frames.

Malta will complete their commitments with two matches, facing Northern Ireland in the morning before taking on the Republic of Ireland later in the afternoon.

Scotland, meanwhile, will face France in their final match and are in a strong position to retain the International Challenge Cup and claim their third title in four years.