Malta's Tony Drago is out of the Malta Cup, even if he wins this evening's clash against Mark Selby.
That will be his last appearance at this year's Malta Cup after suffering his third consecutive defeat yesterday, this time going down against Stephen Hendry by the score of 4-2.
The defeat meant Drago's elimination as he now can only finish with two points if he wins today's match.
Yet, it was perhaps Drago's best performance so far in this tournament.
After losing the opening two frames to the former several times world champion from Scotland, Drago fought back in his unique style to draw level at two-all by winning the third and fourth frames, but any hopes of a complete revival were quashed by Hendry's steadiness which enabled him to win the last two frames, the fifth thanks to a good run of 78 and the sixth after Drago missed an easy red when the score was 48-20 and with four reds still on the table.
"Every screw shot you played got a massive kick, so I said to Tony we have to change it and what a difference, the cushions stopped bouncing and every shot you played was perfect," said Hendry.
"It's a good start, still got work to do, certainly can't win it yet but you could put yourself out of it by now," said the winner of four events here in Malta.
Meanwhile other Maltese player taking part in the Malta Cup, Alex Borg, was also eliminated after losing his third consecutive match. Yesterday he was beaten 4-2 by Joe Perry to remain bottom of his group. Perry lead 4-0 but Borg rallied to win the last two frames.
Shaun Murphy has a good chance of qualifying to the semi-final stage on Saturday. His 4-2 victory over Maguire puts him in top spot provisionally in the group.
"It's the toughest group in the tournament, but if I win my next match I'll definately be through so I'll be concentrating on that," admitted Murphy.Maguire won two of the first three frames with runs of 73 and 80 but Murphy has been in good form this week, relaxing in the luxurious setting of the Hilton hotel and responded with a 104 and 61.The final frame was fragmented, but Murphy finally secured the win with runs of 18 and 17. His final match will be against Stephen Hendry tomorow.
Yesterday抯 results:
Group 1: Joe Perry-Alex Borg 4-2; John Higgins-Allister Carter 3-3
Group 2: Ken Doherty-Joe Swail 5-1; Neil Robertson-Marco Fu 3-3
Group 3: Stephen Hendry-Tony Drago 4-2; Shaun Murphy-Stephen Maguire 4-2
Group 4: Graeme Dott-Mark Williams 2-4; Peter Ebdon-Dominic Dale 2-4
Today's programme
12.00 Group 4: Mark Williams-Peter Ebdon; Ding Junhui-Dominic Dale
2pm Group 1: Joe Perry-Allister Carter; Ryan Day-Alex Borg
6pm Group 2: Neil Robertson-Joe Swail; Stephen Lee-Marco Fu
8pm Group 3: Mark Selby-Tony Drago; Stephen Hendry-Stephen Maguire