Tony Drago's bid to play in the final stages of a ranking tournament after a barren run spanning several months got off to a great start in the Malta Cup last night when the Valletta professional beat Lee Spick 5-3 at the Hilton Portomaso Conference Centre.
However, different fortunes awaited the other two Maltese players in the competition as wild card entries Joe Grech and Simon Zammit were eliminated at the first qualifying round.
Grech was beaten by Derby player David Roe 5-1 and Zammit lasted a little longer on the table but still lost his qualifier to Andrew Higginson 5-3.
It looked as though Drago was in for a difficult time after conceding the first two frames to Spick. Last week, the Mansfield player had ousted the Maltese no.1 from the China Open qualifiers after beating him 5-3 in Prestatyn, Wales.
This time round the local favourite raised his game by a few notches and after going in for the interval all-square, he won the fifth frame to go ahead for the first time in the match.
The manner in which the hyped-up Drago sealed the fourth frame before the break was indeed impressive. He took very few minutes to pot a break of 91, missing out on the century after a clumsy shot.
Spick drew level at three-all but that was only a temporary reprieve for him as Drago won the seventh frame in style and let out a wild cry of victory before wrapping up the match to the delight of the home crowd.
This evening Drago faces former world champion John Parrott in the second qualifier. The winner of this match plays Michael Holt tomorrow.
In yesterday's opening session, Grech won the opener 67-49 but Roe recovered the loss of that first frame to book his place in the final stages of the tournament.
Roe's best breaks in a match that lasted 2 hours and two minutes, were modest ones of 46 and 42. However, his effort was still enough to have the better of Grech.
Zammit was 2-2 at the interval. He won the sixth frame to pull level again at three-all but Widnes potter Higginson, who was playing his first ever match at a venue, won two games in a row to move into the first round. His next fixture is with all-time great Steve Davis.
Dott battles through
Graeme Dott, with a new perspective on life and snooker, made a successful start to the Malta Cup yesterday.
The 888.com world champion was well below his best form but eked out a 5-3 success over Stuart Bingham to progress to the last 16 at the Hilton.
Dott's wife Elaine recently had a cancer scare following a routine pregnancy scan but the cyst was subsequently found to be benign.
"The relief was unbelievable, when we found out she was OK, it made winning the world title seem like nothing," the 29-year-old father of one told World Snooker. "It makes you realise that snooker is just a game and puts it into perspective.
"I was expecting I would have to take a break from snooker so it was also a relief that I could keep playing."
The Larkhall cueman made a strong start with a break of 73 to win the opening frame, then Bingham took the next two.
The Basildon player opened frame four with a 52, Dott reduced the deficit with 32 and cleared up with 36.
A 68 allowed Bingham to regain the lead but Dott won the next two with a top run of 56 for 4-3. The next frame lasted 34 minutes and was eventually won by Dott with superb pots on brown and blue.
Results: Roe bt Grech 5-1; Higginson bt Zammit 5-3; Drago bt Spick 5-3; Dott bt Bingham 5-3; Lee bt Judge 5-2.
Today's matches: 4 p.m. Doherty vs Bond; Davis vs Higginson; Ebdon vs Roe. 8 p.m. Parrott vs Drago; Maguire vs Ding; Williams vs O'Brien.