The Maltese Falcon
One of the most prolific players that snooker has ever produced is the Maltese, Tony Drago. Drago, nicknamed “the Tornado” is best know for his incredibly fast play and break building. Unlike the more methodical players of his time, Tony prided himself on entertaining the audience and wowing them with pots that most would struggle to achieve. Born in Valletta in 1965, Tony took an interest in cue sports at a very early age. Encouraged by his mother to progress, it wasn't very long before Drago could be seen in the local Maltese club and his trophy cabinet rapidly expanded filling the cupboards of one of his mother's bedrooms. like Jimmy White, Tony would often miss a day's schooling to spend time playing pool or snooker.
After learning his trade in Malta, Drago moved to the UK and became a familiar face on the professional circuit. Like Higgins and White, Tony adopted an attacking style of play but although he was a very entertaining player, he was frustrating as well. This highly talented player should have one much more and could have been a multi-title holder if he had concentrated more on the accuracy of his shot selection. When he was on form, he was frankly unbeatable but this never seemed to last a whole match. With a highest ranking of number ten in 1998, Drago has multiple You Tube clips that show his art in motion but little that shows him raising major trophies. The silverware came more readily in pool, where he won the 2003 World Pool Master, the 2008 Predator 10-Ball Championship and being part of the Europe team wins in 2007 and 2008 in the Mosconi Cup.
In snooker, the highlight of career was reaching two major finals, the 1991 World Masters and the 1997 International Open, losing to White and Hendry. He achieved a 147 in 2002 and had 132 century breaks. However the following part of Drago's career tended to ebb and flow with a decline that was briefly saved by his winning of the 2009 EBSA International Open after falling out of the top 32. However the brakes couldn't be applied for long and it wasn't long before this talented player was slapping himself in a German Masters qualifier in 2012 after being told he would be fined £250 for conceding the match early. Tony eventually fell off the tour in 2015 when he failed to qualify at the Q School.
Recently Tony has been very ill, having to undergo a quadruple heart bypass after suffering a heart attack. the once larger than life character has lost a considerable amount of weight and transformed his lifestyle and eating habits to accommodate his scare. Fortunately this didn't damage Drago's love of snooker and he recently played in a Seniors event to a rapturous applause, showing how admired and popular this Maltese giant was and still is in snooker.
After learning his trade in Malta, Drago moved to the UK and became a familiar face on the professional circuit. Like Higgins and White, Tony adopted an attacking style of play but although he was a very entertaining player, he was frustrating as well. This highly talented player should have one much more and could have been a multi-title holder if he had concentrated more on the accuracy of his shot selection. When he was on form, he was frankly unbeatable but this never seemed to last a whole match. With a highest ranking of number ten in 1998, Drago has multiple You Tube clips that show his art in motion but little that shows him raising major trophies. The silverware came more readily in pool, where he won the 2003 World Pool Master, the 2008 Predator 10-Ball Championship and being part of the Europe team wins in 2007 and 2008 in the Mosconi Cup.
In snooker, the highlight of career was reaching two major finals, the 1991 World Masters and the 1997 International Open, losing to White and Hendry. He achieved a 147 in 2002 and had 132 century breaks. However the following part of Drago's career tended to ebb and flow with a decline that was briefly saved by his winning of the 2009 EBSA International Open after falling out of the top 32. However the brakes couldn't be applied for long and it wasn't long before this talented player was slapping himself in a German Masters qualifier in 2012 after being told he would be fined £250 for conceding the match early. Tony eventually fell off the tour in 2015 when he failed to qualify at the Q School.
Recently Tony has been very ill, having to undergo a quadruple heart bypass after suffering a heart attack. the once larger than life character has lost a considerable amount of weight and transformed his lifestyle and eating habits to accommodate his scare. Fortunately this didn't damage Drago's love of snooker and he recently played in a Seniors event to a rapturous applause, showing how admired and popular this Maltese giant was and still is in snooker.
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