The Malta Cup in 2008 was a snooker -Einladungsturnier the 2007/08 season , which from 4 to 10 February 2008 in San Ġiljan in town district Portomaso was held. For the fourth time - with the previous European Open for the fifth time - the tournament took place in the Hilton Conference Center . However, this time the tournament was no longer a ranking tournament. Instead, 20 invited players in 4 groups played for the semi-finals in a completely different format. After this edition the tournament was discontinued.
With Shaun Murphy and Ken Doherty the number 3 and number 4 of the world rankings clashed in the final. At the same time, the two were also the winners in Malta in 2007 and 2006 respectively . And then it was the remake of the Pot Black Cup final earlier in the season that Doherty won. This time Murphy retaliated, he won 9: 3 and took his second Malta title after 2007.
The top players in the world rankings were invited to the tournament : the top 18 without Ronnie O'Sullivan and Steve Davis . There were also four wildcard players: Tony Drago and Alex Borg from Malta, Marco Fu from Hong Kong and Dominic Dale from Welsh . The group stage was played in four groups of five in round robin mode. Each player played four games, each game went over 6 frames regardless of the score. A win brought 2 points, a 3-3 draw 1 point. The player with the most points in each group advanced to the semi-finals.
In the final round, the winners of the first two groups and the winners of groups 3 and 4 met each other. The winners of these two games played on Saturday contested the best-of-17 final in two sessions on Sunday .
Shaun Murphy and Ken Doherty had already faced each other twice this season, both times the Irishman had won. Although Doherty also won the first frame, Murphy had the better start. He led 3-1 to the mid-session break and ended the afternoon with a 6-2 lead. In the evening Doherty would have needed points as quickly as possible, but the first frame clearly went to his English competitor. Murphy put the Irish under even more pressure, he was able to win another frame, but then Murphy took the next two frames and won 9: 3. For the Englishman it was the second victory in the Malta Cup and his first victory in a top 16 invitation tournament.
Final: Best of 17 Frames Referee: Terry Camilleri Hilton Conference Center, Portomaso , Malta , February 10, 2008
Malta
Shaun Murphy
Ken Doherty
John Higgins
Alex Borg
Ryan Day
Marco Fu
Neil Robertson
Joe Swail
Ding Junhui