Malta’s two professionals, Tony Drago and Alex Borg, saw their season ending yesterday as they both lost their second round qualifying matches.

Drago lost a marathon match against Liu Song of China 10-9, a close match decided only by the last frame, while Alex Borg went down 10-6 after a tough match against an in-form Rory McLeod.

Drago was hoping to have a good run in the world championship, but Song thought otherwise as he remained calm in the last frame to win it and advance to the next round.

In the second session, Drago seemed heading towards a victory when he won a tight 17th frame to go 9-8 ahead, but the Chinese player won the 18th frame to force the decider and that seemed to have upset the Maltese ace.

Borg had started quite well against McLeod. He went on 3-3 before McLeod won three frames in a row to take a

6-3 interval lead. In the second session, Borg tried a comeback, but McLeod was steadier and finally clinched the match on the 16th frame.

Meanwhile, in Gent, Belgium, the Masters national team, composed of Frans Mintoff and Tony Mifsud, obtained their third victory from as many matches to make sure of their berth in the finals’ phase. Yesterday they beat Belgium convincingly 7-1.

The duo may also end up as the Group A winners as they still have to play against the Netherlands who have not yet won a match.

The national team taking part in the European team championship, also in Gent, yesterday enhanced its chances of qualification from Group D when they obtained their third victory, beating France 10-8, with Simon Zammit winning five frames, Duncan Bezzina three and Clint Grima the other two.