Tony Drago

Tony Drago

Nickname	The Tornado
Professional	Snooker from 1985–to date; pool from 2000- to date.
Highest ranking	10 (1998/99)
Century breaks	132
Tournament wins
Minor-ranking	1

Tony Drago (born 22 September1965) is a professional snooker and pool player from Malta. The highpoint of his career was when he won the 2003 World Pool Masters Tournament beating Hsia Hui-kai 8-6.

His combination of exceptionally fast play and emotional temperament has made him a popular character in snooker, although he famously took some criticism for hurling his cue at the table and storming out of the arena following his 5-0 defeat to Mark Bennett in the 1996 Grand Prix, later accusing Bennett of bad sportsmanship because he had twice in the match suggested that Drago missed balls deliberately while snookered. Similarly, he became visibly angry with Peter Ebdon during their second round match in the 2003 World Championship, in which Ebdon repeatedly left the arena between frames. Drago took this as an attempt to disrupt the flow of his game, but apologised publicly when he later found out that Ebdon had been ill during the match.

Drago is known for his consistently high-speed play, similar to pool players Lou Butera of the US and Luc Salvas of Canada, or snooker's Ronnie O'Sullivan. His style has earned him the nickname "the Tornado". In 1993 he recorded the fastest ever best-of-9-frames snooker victory by beating Sean Lanigan in just thirty-four minutes. In the 1995 UK Snooker Championship, he made a century break in just three minutes and thirty seconds against John Higgins.

Drago once achieved a 149 break, believed to be the second highest break ever made, in a practice match at West Norwood Snooker Club, against Nick Manning. Breaks of over 147 are possible only when the break begins by invoking the "free ball" rule, effectively giving the player sixteen "reds" rather than fifteen, and thus allowing a maximum break of 155.

Drago's highest snooker world rankings position was number ten (in 1998). He reached the quarter-finals of the World Championship in 1988 (he has appeared in the tournament 11 times more, most recently in 2004/2005), the final of the Mita World Masters in 1991 (losing to Jimmy White), and the final of the International Open in 1997 (his only ranking event final, beaten by Stephen Hendry).

It is possible he would have won more tournaments were it not for his main aberration: playing shots with the rest. Most professional snooker players dislike the rest, but view its use as a necessary evil; some of Drago's misses when using the implement in important matches have bordered on the farcical, and have certainly cost him victories. Drago played in two professional matches where maximums were scored against him, once by Jimmy White, and another by James Wattana. Even among pool players, who use the rest less often due to pool's smaller table, this is seen as Drago's achilles heel.

After failing to qualify for the 2004 World Championships, Drago entered a decline in snooker. He dropped out of the top 32 of the rankings a year later, and after losing to Issara Kachaiwong in his opening qualifier for the 2008 World Championship, he looks set to drop off the tour. [1]

At the 2007 Mosconi Cup in Las Vegas, Drago won all of his single matches which earned him the Most Valuable Player Award.

Currently Drago plays with a John Parris cue.

Tournament Wins

• Strachan Challenge (1993, leg 3)
• World Pool Masters 2003
• Mosconi Cup 2007

External links

• Industry profile of Tony Drago