Malta’s Tony Drago and Alex Borg finished their commitments in the tournament yesterday with both being eliminated. They both finished last in their respective groups.

In Group 1, Borg finished in style yesterday as he obtained a good 3-3 draw against Ryan Day in his final qualifying match in Group 1.

Neither player was in a position to qualify but Borg did claim his point. He opened with a 52 and a 75 before Day replied with a 70.

Borg then went two in front again before Day missed out on the chance of a £10,000 prize on offer for a maximum break when he missed the 15th black. He then took the last with a 62 to level the match.

In Group 3, Drago suffered his fourth defeat in succession as he went down to Mark Selby 4-2. The Valletta-born ace went in arrears after the first frame but quickly hit back to win the second. Selby then went on to win the next three frames in succession to build a 4-1 lead, assuring himself of the two points even if he had no chance of qualifying. Drago then won the last frame to make it 4-2.

In another Group 1 match, Joe Perry set up a final match decider with John Higgins after seeing off the challenge of Ali Carter. Both players went into the match with a chance of qualifying but after Perry’s 4-2 victory the Cambridge cueman play Higgins today for a place in the semi-finals at stake.

The first four frames were shared with Carter putting together runs of 51 and 88 to secure his two frames. Perry struggled to get going but having taken the fourth frame he then compiled breaks of 64 and 52 to leave him with two wins and a draw from his three matches, the same record as Higgins but the World No.1 holds a better frame difference and a point would be enough to see him progress.

Chinese star Ding Junhui put himself within a point of qualifying from Group 4 and dented Dominic Dale’s hopes after beating him 4-2.

Ding has five points but still has one match to play: he faces Mark Williams today. If Williams were to win then Dale would go through courtesy of the six points he has accumulated. If Ding claims three frames he would go through.

20-year-old Ding has been in prolific form in this event with four centuries to his name. He has started each of his first two matches with a century. He didn’t maintain that run in this encounter but he did open with breaks of 69, 82 and a 76 to jump to a 3-0 lead, with Dale restricted just 17 points.

Dale had been unbeaten going into the match and needed to avoid defeat pulled one back in the next but Ding took frame five to secure the win that gives him a great chance of progressing to tomorrow’s semi-final.

The other Group 4 match played yesterday between Peter Ebdon and Williams, swung first in favour of Ebdon who took the opening three frames with runs of 89, 59 and 79.

Williams then responded with his own scoring spree, an 82 and 66 in both the last two frames to tie the match which contained less than an hour of playing time. Both players cannot qualify for the knock out stages.

In yesterday’s final match from Group 3, Stephen Hendry kept his hopes of reaching the semi-finals alive after a 3-3 draw with Stephen Maguire. This result kept Shaun Murphy on top in this group, one point ahead of Hendry. Today’s match between them is therefore a decider with Murphy needing a draw to advance.

Also decisive will be the clashes between John Higgins and Joe Perry and Ken Doherty against Neil Robertson.

Yesterday’s results:

12.00 Group 4: Mark Williams-Peter Ebdon 3-3; Ding Junhui-Dominic Dale 4-2

2pm Group 1: Joe Perry-Allister Carter 4-2; Ryan Day-Alex Borg 3-3

6pm Group 2: Neil Robertson-Joe Swail 4-2; Stephen Lee-Marco Fu 1-5

8pm Group 3: Mark Selby-Tony Drago 4-2; Stephen Hendry-Stephen Maguire 3-3

Today’s programme

12.00 Group 1: John Higgins-Joe Perry; Allister Carter-Ryan Day

2pm Group 2: Ken Doherty-Neil Robertson; Joe Swail-Stephen Lee

6pm Group 3: Shaun Murphy-Stephen Hendry; Stephen Maguire-Mark Selby

8pm Group 4: Greame Dott-Peter Ebdon; Mark Williams-Ding Junhui