Drago excited to make main draw in Newport

Malta pro Tony Drago will be playing against Ryan Day in the opening round of the Welsh Open this week after negotiating his way through the qualifying phase which was played in Prestatyn last week.

This will be the first time since the 2007 Shanghai Masters that Drago had made it to the main draw of a ranking tournament. In the qualifying rounds he beat Simon Bedford 5-3, Peter Lines 5-2, Jimmie Michie 5-2 and Gerard Greene 5-2.

Drago, who plays Day on Tuesday, was among the crowd-pullers of the qualifiers at Pontin's which also saw the participation of snooker legend Steve Davis and former world champions Graeme Dott and Ken Doherty.

In Friday's decisive match against Greene, Drago shared the first four frames, making a 56 in the second and Greene hitting back with a 58 in the fourth.

Runs of 64 and 41 put Drago 3-2 up and he added a scrappy sixth frame before clinching victory with a 57 in the next.

"It feels like the last time I got to a venue was before World War Two," the 'Tornado' was quoted as saying on worldsnooker.com.

"I will be excited and a bit nervous because I will not be used to the surroundings. I don't want to get carried away because I'm just winning a few matches. I'm enjoying my snooker and playing really well."

Drago's fine showing in the qualifiers will earn him valuable ranking points in the WPBSA rankings. In the provisional list he is currently placed at no.65. Last year's beaten finalist Joe Swail will not get the chance of another crack at the title as he lost 5-4 to Mark Davis on Friday.

Dominic Dale qualified for the first round proper with a 5-2 victory over Steve Davis and the 'battle of champions' went the way of Dott as he beat Doherty 5-3.

Meanwhile, defending champion Ali Carter is looking forward to reviving happy memories at the Newport Centre this week.

The world's best players, including Ronnie O'Sullivan, John Higgins, Stephen Hendry, Shaun Murphy, Neil Robertson, Mark Selby and home favourites Mark Williams and Matthew Stevens, will be competing for the trophy in the world ranking event, which comes to a close today week.

Carter enjoyed the best moment of his career at last season's Welsh Open when he came from 5-2 down to beat Swail 9-5 in the final and capture his first ranking title.

"It was a massive moment for me," said the world no.5.

"It was a big relief to get a first ranking event under my belt.

I'd had a great season up until that point but I lost three close matches in semi-finals, so to go all the way in Newport was a great way to lift the burden."

The event drew bumper crowds to Newport, with over 1,300 fans attending the final.

"It made for a great atmosphere and helped bring the best out of the players," added Carter.

"Hopefully, we'll get a lot of support again this time and I can have a good run."