Maltese players Tony Drago and Alex Borg had a bad start to the tournament yesterday when they suffered heavy 6-0 defeats in their opening matches.

Borg went down 6-0 to John Higgins, while Drago was beaten by a similar score by Sean Murphy.

Drago was way back from his best against Murphy and his best frame was a 27 which he compiled in the first frame.

"I’ll try and do well in this tournament and play better. You’re going to have to play really well to come out of the groups so that’s my aim. It’s good match practice," said Higgins.

Murphy dominated the encounter although he was also far from impressive, except in the final sixth frame which he clinched on a fine century break of 110.

Borg, a wild card entry, fared a little better against Higgins as his best break was a 36 which arrived in the fifth frame. However, he stood no chance against the steadier Scot who had runs of 62, 51 and 53 on his way to an easy win.

In other matches, Ryan Day and Joe Perry produced the first draw of this tournament. The invitational event is a round robin format with two points for a win and one for a draw.

Day was the runner-up in last season’s Malta Cup and has high hopes of repeating his success.

Ken Doherty continued the recent run he enjoyed at the SAGA Insurance Masters. His semi-final appearance at Wembley has hinted at a return to form for the Dubliner.

Doherty had found himself 2-0 down to another player back in form Marco Fu. The Royal London Watches champion took the second with a 108.

Doherty then battled back with runs of 30 and 47 before a 79 levelled the match and having taken the fifth frame he signed off in style with a 127 clearance.

"I love playing here, I always have done: it’s a fantastic place. Every match is going to be hard.”

The matches come thick and fast during the group stages and Neil Robertson was soon in full flow.

A run of 63 helped secure the first before Lee levelled in the next.

Thereafter the 25-year-old dominated and a break of 66 was followed by back to back centuries, 116 and 107, before finishing with a 69 as the winner of two ranking events last season looks to get back on track.