For the third time this season Tony Drago has progressed to the third round of a ranking event, while Michael White has again run out a winner. Click below for the all of today’s results…
Having got himself back onto the main tour by winning the EBSA Play-Off, there were more than a few people who expected Tony Drago to struggle this season. Having reached the third round of another ranking event however, he is right in contention not only to stay on the circuit, but possibly move into the top 64 once again.
His latest win came against Tamworth’s Dave Gilbert, a man himself bidding to move back up the rankings after a difficult spell. The first session of their match was predictably quick, the eight frames being concluded in less than 90 minutes as Tony edged his way towards a 5-3 lead and despite David’s best efforts, he could not stem the tide in the second as Tony ran out a 9-5 winner.
Guaranteed to end up with at least 10690 points at the end of the season now, things are going nicely for Tony and he now has to win just two more matches to get himself to the venue stage of this tournament. With Mark Davis next up however, it is certainly not going to be easy…
Other players who have managed to continue their good starts to the season today are Simon Bedford, Jimmy Robertson and Grand Prix qualifier Mark Joyce.
After his 9-0 victory over Joe Jogia on Tuesday, Simon again played well today, making back to back centuries of 127 and 10 as he dropped just three frames against Irishman David Morris. Next up for him is Andrew Higginson who will be looking to get back to winning ways after an early exit at the hands of Robert Milkins during the Grand Prix qualifiers.
Jimmy Robertson also suffered an opening match defeat at the Grand Prix but following a hard-earned victory over Stephen Rowlings on Tuesday, he has now backed it up with another solid win over Paul Davies to book a third round tie with Anthony Hamilton. After narrowly missing out on making the last 32 of the Shanghai Masters where he lost out to Graeme Dott, he will be hoping for better this week if he can win his next two matches,
Mark Joyce meanwhile ended the hopes of Matt Couch with a straightforward 9-4 victory. Next up for him as he looks to qualify for his second venue in a row will be the resurgent Ken Doherty…
The final match to finish tonight saw another Irish veteran in the form of Joe Delaney withstand a brave fightback from young Sam Baird to win his second match of the season and progress to the third round. He will now take on countryman Michael Judge for the right to play Steve Davis.
Results from Global Snooker:
Tony Drago must be playing well, fair play to him.
Nice to see Michael White winning too. An Irish winner too in Mark Joyce.
Joyce is from Walsall is he not?
Sorry, excuse me. I thought Walsall was just outside Kerry.
Ignore me, the douhnuts have gone to my head & I’m starting to talk like one……whoosh, I’m outta here………..
Fantastic win for Tony Drago but nightmare for Gilbert when there are so many ranking points on offer. He talked about quitting early this season if he doesn’t make a major impact – this result will push him further toward making that decision. This is a worrying trend in the game that Steve Davis has highlighted, players realising there is no money in the game unless you are in the elite. If nothing good comes of this new international tour proposal, I think we will see the resurgence of older, established players who have less money worries and the stifling of new talent. Although it would appeal to older fans seeing their favourites back in the limelight, it would not be good for the sport as it would take it back to where it was in the 1960′s. What do you think Matt?