Malta’s Tony Drago showed he is still a favourite with local enthusiasts as he stormed through to a round four match against Barry Pinches today, beating Sjhokat Ali 5-2 in front of a capacity crowd at the Hilton Conference Centre.

Drago and Ali produced a tense first session where the Maltese star chased his Pakistani opponent who led 1-0 and 2-1 before the session ended on a par at 2-2.

Ali took the first frame 11-58, while Drago responded with a good break to level the match at one-all. In the third frame, Ali quickly took a good lead with a 66 break. And after Drago missed a not so easy red, he conceded the frame for Ali to lead 2-1. But the Maltese cueist was back at his best in the fourth frame which he won convincingly 103-15.

Drago dominated the second session going on to secure his place in the next round by winning the opening three frames for a 5-2 victory to the delight of all present. He won those three frames 82-46, 57-7 and 70-51.

Drago now meets Barry Pinches this evening for a place in the last 32.

Earlier, Malta's Guzi Grech and Simon Zammit, who took part after receiving a wild card, lost their qualifying match.

Guzi Grech went down 5-1 to the very promising Mark Allen, while Simon Zammit lost 5-2 against Robin Hull, though the Maltese player produced some good play in the fifth and sixth frames.

In other matches played yesterday, Alan McManus beat Allister Carter 5-2, while John Higgins, recent winner of the Masters title, survived a scare against Robert Milkins to win 5-4. In the other match, another crowd favourite, Paul Hunter, crashed out of the tournament after a 5-3 defeat at the hands of Dominic Dale.

After his match, Drago said his performance belied his critics and said he was sure he was still a valid player on his day. “Today I played much better than I did when I reached the semi-finals of one of the local tournaments a few years ago,” he said.