Malta had to settle for the silver medal at the European Snooker Championship in Sofia after Aaron Busuttil and Chris Peplow suffered a dramatic 3-2 defeat against Poland in the Men’s team final.

The Polish pairing of Tomasz Skalski and Paweł Rogoz prevailed in a tense deciding frame, denying Malta the European title after Busuttil and Peplow had fought back from two frames down.

It was the third consecutive year that Malta finished runners-up in the Men’s team competition organised by the European Billiards and Snooker Association. Busuttil and Peplow also reached the final in Portugal in 2024, while Philip Ciantar and Isaac Borg were runners-up in Albania last year. Ukraine defeated Malta on both those occasions.

This time, Malta came agonisingly close to ending that sequence, with the destination of the title eventually decided when only the pink and black remained in the final frame.

Malta made the brighter start to the opening frame but, despite falling several points behind, Poland recovered to edge it 49-46.

Skalski and Rogoz then dominated the second frame, winning 79-7 to move within one frame of the European title.

Busuttil and Peplow responded impressively in the third, producing a break of 64 on their way to a convincing 69-1 victory.

Poland looked poised to wrap up the match in the fourth frame, but the Maltese pair refused to surrender and produced a fine recovery to take it 66-55 and force a decider.

The fifth frame proved a tense affair, with opportunities coming at both ends as the pressure increased. Malta were handed a golden opportunity in the closing stages, but Busuttil was unable to pot the pink.

Poland took advantage and Skalski and Rogoz eventually secured the frame 64-59, completing a 3-2 victory and claiming the European title.

Despite the disappointment of another narrow defeat in the final, Busuttil and Peplow left Sofia with the silver medal and also collected the trophy for the highest break of the team competition.

Malta have now finished second in the Men’s team event at three successive European Championships – Albufeira in 2024, Golem in 2025 and Sofia in 2026.

The European Snooker Championship in Sofia now continues with the individual Six Reds and Shoot Out competitions.