Malta Cup 2006
Malta Cup 2006
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| Tournament type: | World ranking tournament |
| Venue: | Hilton Conference Center, Portomaso , Malta |
| Opening: | January 30, 2006 |
| Endgame: | February 5, 2006
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| Winner: |
 Ken Doherty
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| Finalist: |
 John Higgins
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| Highest Break: | 142 ( Stephen Hendry )
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The 2006 Malta Cup was a snooker tournament of the 2005/06 season that was held from January 30th to February 5th, 2006 at the Hilton Conference Center in Portomaso . It was the second Malta Cup and the third professional tournament in a row in the district of Saint Julian's .
The world number one Ronnie O'Sullivan had not registered for the tournament. Number 2 Stephen Hendry had won last year, but this time he was eliminated in the quarterfinals. His conqueror John Higgins then made it to the finals. Tournament winner was the Irishman Ken Doherty , who defeated Higgins in the final just 9: 8. For Doherty it was the sixth ranked title of his career and after the Malta Grand Prix in 1997 and 2000 the third in the Mediterranean island state.
Prize money / world ranking points
Instead of just under £ 200,000 , there was just a little less than £ 120,000 in prize money this year. It was awarded according to a special system in which the 16 top seeded players were each guaranteed £ 4,000 as an entry bonus. The remaining 16 participants in the main tournament definitely got an extra £ 1,000. The other prizes were only dependent on the number of rounds reached. The biggest change was the elimination of the bonuses for the last two qualifying rounds. Conversely, the number of points for the world rankings increased . Nothing changed here for the qualifiers, but in the main tournament there were between 50 points for round 1 and 1,000 points more for the winner.
| Prize money | World ranking points b |
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|---|---|---|
| winner | £ 14,000 | 5,000 |
| finalist | £ 8,500 | 4,000 |
| Semi-finalist | £ 3,000 | 3,200 |
| Quarter finalist | £ 1,500 | 2,500 |
| Round of 16 | £ 500 | 1,900 |
| Last 32 | - | 1,400 |
| Last 48 | - | 1,150 |
| Last 64 | - | 900 |
| Last 80 | - | 650 |
| Last 96 | - | 200 |
| Bonus a | £ 80,000 | |
| All in all | £ 118,500 |
Final round
In the first year of the Malta Cup, the local association provided four wildcard players who were allowed to play for participation before the main tournament. This year there were only two Maltese who competed against the two lowest placed qualifiers in the world rankings . The winners then contested the main tournament together with the other qualifiers and the top 16 in the world rankings.
Wildcard round
Ex-professional Joe Grech and amateur Simon Zammit, who had also been there last year, were selected for the wildcard round. No local player managed to get into the main tournament.
finalIn the sixth tournament of the season, John Higgins was in the final for the third time, and he had already won the Grand Prix and Masters . Ken Doherty , however, had not won a tournament since 2001 and was in a final at the 2003 World Cup . The Irishman won the last three direct comparisons. He also started the match offensively and after a 2-2 break he played a 5-3 lead at the end of the first session. In the evening he made a false start, Higgins could not only compensate, he built a series of 5 wins in a row with high breaks and took the lead 8: 5. Doherty had his back to the wall and couldn't lose a frame. In a hard-fought 14th frame he averted the immediate defeat and then managed to equalize. In the decision frame he succeeded with a 63-point break the decision in his favor with 9: 8. After Doherty was able to beat Higgins for the first time in a final at the 1997 Malta Grand Prix , he succeeded on Maltese soil for the second time.
qualificationThe qualifiers took place from October 31 to November 3 at the Pontin's Center in Prestatyn . In round 1, places 65 to 96 of the world rankings played against each other, the winners met in round 2 on places 49 to 64, in round 3 numbers 33 to 48 and in round 4 numbers 17 to 32. kl. = without a fight Century breaks16 players achieved 29 breaks of at least 100 points in the main tournament. Stephen Hendry scored all of his 4 Centurys in a 5-1 win over Neil Robertson in Round 1. 4 Centurys only managed the winner Ken Doherty over 3 games. Robin Hull's 133 break in the round of 16 was the 100th official century break of his career. In the qualification there were 19 Centurys spread over 17 players. Main tournament
a scored in the wildcard round
qualification
swell
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