Malta's Tony Drago and Alex Borg were eliminated in the first round of the World Cup of Pool in Newport, South Wales on Wednesday, when they suffered a heavy 9-0 defeat against Philippine pair Efren “Bata” Reyes and Francisco “Django” Bustamante.

Reyes and Bustamante needed just 50 minutes in fashioning out their impressive victory, also sending a warning to all competing countries of their serious campaign in the event that offers $60,000 to the team champion.

Malta won the lag, but that was the only positive note the team had in the entire match as the Filipino pair executed flawless shotmaking and pounced on every error by its rivals.

Drago, the World Pool Masters winner, said he expects the Philippines to go all the way and win the tournament where a total of 32 nations are entered.

“These guys are so good and we have just played two of the greatest players of all time,” Drago said.