Maltese ace Tony Drago secured a berth in the final stages of the Embassy World Championship in Sheffield yesterday as he registered a convincing 10-4 win over Welshman Nigel Bond.

The victory was a big boost for the Valletta-born Drago, 39, who now looks forward to a good finish to what has been a poor season. He will be appearing at Sheffield's Crucible Theatre for the 13th time in his career - he turned professional in 1985.

The Tornado played quite well yesterday and by the interval, he was already leading Bond 7-2. At the end, he conceded two frames to Bond before sweeping to his 10-4 win.

"I've had a bad season but that was the best I've played," said Drago. "I felt great all day and my safety was very good.

"I still need to win at least one more match to keep my top 32 place so I'll be a nervous wreck at Sheffield, but I'm just happy to be there. The rankings don't lie so if I don't make the top 32, I don't deserve to."

Among those who also qualified for the Sheffield final stages next month were Stephen Maguire who beat Ryan Day 10-5, Neil Roberton, a close 10-9 winner over Mark King and Mark Selby who defeated Joe Perry 10-2. Also through was Quinten Hann who beat S. Ali 10-5.