Drago and Wattana Holding Back The Years
They say form is temporary but class is permanent. Well that was certainly the case as Malta’s Tony Drago and Thailand’s James Wattana rolled back the years yesterday to win through to the final stages of next month’s China Open in Beijing.
44-year-old Drago and Wattana (40) both won an impressive four consecutive matches to book their place.
Drago defeated England’d Stephen Lee by five-frames-to-two including a superb 122 break in the third frame.
Wattana enjoyed a convincing 5-1 win over Northern Ireland’s, Joe Swail.
It is over twenty years since the two players starred in the one and only Mita World Masters staged by Barry Hearn in Brimingham’s NEC Arena. Drago reached his first major final, losing out to Jimmy White and Wattana made a 147 maximum break on his way to the semi-final.
Both players had to win their back on tour last season after falling off following a series of poor performances which led to a slip down the world rankings.
Wattana lifted the Asian Championship whilst Drago won the European Play-Off to earn full tournament rights once more.
Both players are likely to face wild-card opponents in their first match in the Chinese capital.
Elsewehere, there were shocks galore after seeded player after seeded player crashed out. Matthew Stevens, Steve Davis, Ricky Walden, Stuart Bingham, Dave Harold and China's own Liang Wenbo all failing to reach the last 32.
