Malta’s Tony Drago was eliminated from the tournament last night as he was beaten by former world champion John Parrott 5-4 in a close and tense match.
Drago had a difficult start as Parrott took command of the first frame. Drago recovered to draw level by winning the second frame, only for Parrott to take the lead again after winning the third frame. But Drago won back his spurs in the fourth frame which he won when, at one time, it appeared as if he would go 3-1 behind at the end of the first session.
Parrott started the second session on a high with a good break of 99 as he again took the lead.
Parrott also took the sixth frame convincingly as Drago conceded with four more reds on the table. The seventh frame went Drago’s way after he potted a fine final red and the colour.
Drago kept his hopes alive by wining the eighth frame, but in the decider, he first missed an easy red right at the start of the frame, and then also missed a second chance after Parrott missed on an easy black, to concede the frame and the match.
Malta Cup holder Ken Doherty of Ireland started his defence of the title successfully with a 5-3 win over Nigel Bond yesterday afternoon.
The Dubliner led 3-0 before Bond pulled back two frames. A superb 134 total clearance made it 4-2 to Doherty and he clinched victory with a 67 in frame eight.
"Nigel is a dangerous opponent and there's always pressure on these first round matches so I'm delighted to get through and build a bit of momentum," said the world No 2, who beat John Higgins 9-8 in last year's epic final.
Doherty will now face Andrew Higginson, who beat Steve Davis 5-4 yesterday to advance to the Last 32. Higginson had eliminated Malta's wild card Simon Zammit on Sunday.
Davis fought back from 4-2 down to level at 4-4 before Higginson won the deciding frame thanks to a break of 67.
Peter Ebdon kept his hopes intact with a tremendous fight-back against David Roe. He trailed Roe 4-1 at the start of the second session and appeared to be on the way out but he made a remarkable recovery to win the last four frames for a 5-4 win thanks to an excellent break of 88 in the deciding frame.
Ebdon, the world No. 7, now faces Stephen Maguire or Ding Junhui in the Last 16.
"I'm very pleased to have won. It would have been a blow to lose, especially after losing my opening match at the Masters, although Ding played very well at Wembley to beat me."
Late yesterday evening, Chinese prodigy Ding Junhui was also bundles out of the tournament as he lost 5-2 to Stephen Maguire.
Yesterday’s results: K. Doherty bt N. Bond 5-3; P. Ebdon bt D. Roe 5-4; A. Higginson bt S. Davis 5-4; J. Parrott bt T. Drago 5-4; S. Maguire bt D. Junhui 5-2.