Malta Cup Thread

[hegeland]

Three centuries in three frames and 356 unanswered points! Great start of the tournament from Ding! Ebdon sportingly applaudes his opponent.

[dannyd0g]

Well he still has to play Stephen Hendry, Stephen Maguire and Mark Selby so there is a possibility of all 6-0 whitewashes

Unfortunately that is a humiliating possibilty that could come true for Drago. Even Hendry who has been struggling himself will feel confident playing Drago.

It must be very tough, frustrating and humiliating for Drago to have to face the current best players in the world, infront of his home supporters, when he has lost it so badly that he has just been relegated off the main tour, barring a wildcard.

I think its true to say that against Murphy tonight Drago looked like a good club player, totally out of place now that he is no longer amongst the best players in the world.

[rivercard]

Unfortunately that is a humiliating possibilty that could come true for Drago. Even Hendry who has been struggling himself will feel confident playing Drago.

It must be very tough, frustrating and humiliating for Drago to have to face the current best players in the world, infront of his home supporters, when he has lost it so badly that he has just been relegated off the main tour, barring a wildcard.

I don't know danny.. I think you over-dramatized this a bit. Tony didn't completely lost it this season (he won 50% of his matches this year before the Malta Cup), he just lost many important matches (WC first round for example). His game is by no means as good as 10 years ago, but he can still play a bit.
Of course it's frustrating to lose 6-0 before your home crowd, but if you can't make a 30+ break, you can expect to get whitewashed by someone like Murphy.
Somehow Tony plays under huge pressure, although there's nothing to lose for him really.

I think its true to say that against Murphy tonight Drago looked like a good club player, totally out of place now that he is no longer amongst the best players in the world.

I think he looked like a bad club player in fact. Tomorrow will be better..

[dannyd0g]

I don't know danny.. I think you over-dramatized this a bit. Tony didn't completely lost it this season (he won 50% of his matches this year before the Malta Cup), he just lost many important matches (WC first round for example). His game is by no means as good as 10 years ago, but he can still play a bit.
Of course it's frustrating to lose 6-0 before your home crowd, but if you can't make a 30+ break, you can expect to get whitewashed by someone like Murphy.
Somehow Tony plays under huge pressure, although there's nothing to lose for him really.



I think he looked like a bad club player in fact. Tomorrow will be better..

Good reply rivercard. Maybe sometimes i do overdramatise, i think i just do it to get some attention.

Anyway, what you say is well observed. And now you mention it, i can see that Drago has often seemed under pressure. Maybe its just that he's always been so much more emotional and expressive than most other players you can really see what he's feeling. Apart from his fast and exiting play this has also helped make him great to watch.

I too hope tomorrow will be better.

I'm sure there will be an enormous cheer if and when he wins a frame !!

[The Boss]

Drago is far from finished. He lost today because Machaela was refereeing and he lost concentration. Also a case of playing the table and not the opponent. Murphy is most effective when others give him the opportunities. Drago was only interested in clearing up in one visit and missed a few because safety doesn't interest him. He potted some great long ones and just lost concentration on the easy ones. Machaela being there can't have helped either. The Boss will be back

[rivercard]

Also a case of playing the table and not the opponent.

There is truth in that. He does look like he's fighting with the table (and the balls). So that's a good observation.. not sure about the Michaela one.

[Alex0paul]

Looks like the China Open has a bigger curse than we first suspected. Not only does it stop you from winning the World Title it also sets you on a horrendus run of results. Mark Williams won it in 2006 and then lost in the first round of 10 of the next 14 tournaments and now Graeme Dott, winner in 2007 has lost in the first round of 5 of the next 6 tournaments. He also is on a run of 10 straight defeats!

[PostHuMaN]

from where can i get the results since the draw sheet on worldsnooker.com isn't available and the official maltacup.org site is not updated ?

thanks!

[Monique]

PostHuMaN

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/othe...er/7226226.stm

is a start...

[April madness]

lots of info here as well http://www.globalsnookercentre.co.uk/main.htm

[poolqjunkie]

I think Tony Drago likes to play for the crowd so he is always going for the type of shots that only Jimmy White and Alex Higgins would go for. I feel a bit sorry for him actually. I think he still can play very well, but he really should play a more defensive game against the top players, or he could get white washed. May be he is thinking too much about playing for his home crowd. I still wish he would win some matches.

[PostHuMaN]

im gonna watch him play next thursday vs selby. hope its a good game. of course, since i'm maltese, i'm going to support him

[JanieWatkins]

from where can i get the results since the draw sheet on worldsnooker.com isn't available and the official maltacup.org site is not updated ?

thanks!

http://globalsnookercentre.co.uk/fil...-Malta-Cup.htm

[superaussie]

everyone on here

i just checked the frame scores and robbo made 3 centuries in his match yesterday will this add to his career centuries even though this is not a ranking event ?

[dannyd0g]

everyone on here

i just checked the frame scores and robbo made 3 centuries in his match yesterday will this add to his career centuries even though this is not a ranking event ?

Seeing as the premier league counts, then i would think this would too.