Drago bows out after 5-2 defeat

Tony Drago's participation in this year's Malta Cup came to an abrupt end last night. The Malta pro was beaten by Barry Pinches 5-2 in a final qualifying round match at the Hilton Conference Centre.

Drago was keen for a good run in the Malta Cup as apart from having the opportunity of playing infront of his own fans it was also his last apperarance in a ranking event this season.

However, Pinches had other ideas as the world no. 20 produced a solid performance which saw him taking advantage of all the chances that came his way to set up a last 16 match against Stephen Lee tonight.

Drago made a promising start when winning the opening frame 60-15. Pinches soon recovered winning a close second frame 67-62 and the third 78-15 to move 2-1 ahead. A fine 114 break in the fourth frame enabled Drago to go into the interval level.

The fifth frame turned out to be the turning point of the match as Drago raced to 51-36 lead but failed to close out the frame. Pinches was lucky to pot the yellow and went on to sneak it 59-56.

The 36-year-old English player was in control now and quickly put the game beyond Drago by winning the next two frames to seal his passage to the next round.

Drago was understandably disappointed. "I don't normally mention fortune but today lady luck was certainly not on my side," the Maltese player said.

"I was very unlucky to lose the fifth frame and that was basically the turning point of the match. Had I won that frame I would have won the match no doubt... Barry was not playing particularly well tonight. But these things happen in sport and there's nothing you can do about it."

In the afternoon session, Stephen Hendry made a remarkable four century breaks in a 5-1 victory over Neil Robertson.

The Scot got the defence of his title off to a blistering start with a stunning demonstration of break-building.

He becomes the fifth player in tournament history to make four tons in a best-of-nine match (following Peter Ebdon, James Reynolds, Tom Ford and Ronnie O'Sullivan) and it is the first time this feat has been achieved in a televised ranking event match.

Hendry, chasing his fifth title on Maltese soil, took a scrappy opening frame then knocked in his first century with a 104.

Australia's Robertson pulled one back but barely got back to the table for the remainder of the match as Hendry blasted in 142, 103 and 131 to seal victory.

"I played fantastic snooker today," said the seven-times world champion, who has the chance to build a significant lead at the top of the provisional rankings ahead of the absent Ronnie O'Sullivan.

Williams boost

"When I play like that, no one can beat me. But it comes in spasms and there's no guarantee it will still be there in my next match. It's nice to knock in the big breaks although the most important thing was to win the match."

Mark Williams gathered some much-needed ranking points with a 5-3 defeat of Gerard Greene. The Welsh left-hander went 4-1 up with breaks of 69 and 63.

Greene made 100 and 59 in getting back to 4-3 before Williams clinched the tie in frame eight.

"I need every win I can get," said Williams. "It wasn't a great match but I managed to win the scrappy frames.

"If I can win my first round matches in China and Sheffield then hopefully I will be safe for the top 16. That's my main goal this season, next year I'll be aiming to be back challenging the big boys."

Joe Perry of Wisbech saw off Thailand's James Wattana with breaks of 57 twice and 51.

Yesterday's results: S. Hendry bt N. Robertson 5-1; J. Perry vs J. Wattana 5-2; M. Williams vs G. Greene 5-3; T. Drago vs B. Pinches 5-2; M. Stevens vs N. Bond 2-5; S. Maguire vs M. Fu 5-2.

Playing today: Noon I. McCulloch vs M. King, K. Doherty vs J. Swail. 4 p.m. P. Ebdon vs S. Bingham, S. Davis vs R. Hull, S. Murphy vs M. Allen. 8 p.m. S. Lee vs B. Pinches, J. White vs B. Hawkins, G. Dott vs J. Parrott.