Malta’s Tony Drago crashed out of the Players Tour Championship Event No. 5 yesterday in Hamm, Germany.

In the first round, he was in top form inflicting a 4-0 defeat on Hans Blanckaert, but in the second round, he was unlucky to lose narrowly 4-3 to Stuart Bingham.

Meanwhile this tournament saw the return to competitive action of former world champion and world No. 1 John Higgins.

The Scottish player beat Joe Jogia 4-2 in the first round to advance to a last 64 clash with Dave Harold – a match he won even more convincingly 4-0.

The three-times world champion from Wishaw admitted to being "very nervous" in playing his first professional match since losing to Steve Davis in the second round at the Crucible last April. He was subsequently banned from tournaments for six months following a Sport Resolutions UK hearing.