Drago

Confirming his credentials as a world class cue man, Malta's Tony Drago defeated Hui-kai Hsia, of Taiwan, 8-6 to lift the 2003 World Pool Masters title after a tense battle at the Hotel Zuiderduin, Egmond aan Zee, Holland, on Sunday night.

Drago, who reached the semi-finals of the WPA World Pool Championship earlier in the summer, had beaten Alex Pagulayan, Nick van den Berg and Earl Strickland en route to the final. It was his first major pool final but having come so far in the event he was determined as ever as he won by a hair's breadth.

Drago took a 3-2 lead in early exchanges. Then a typical lightning fast break and run from 'Tornado' Tony put him further ahead at 4-2 and 5-2. He was on fire in the eighth game as he broke the balls and ran out in barely a minute and at 6-2, the winning line was getting closer.

However, a dry break in the next gave Hsia a chance to complete a clearance and go to 6-3. He broke and ran out in the next and as the match came to the closing stages both players were feeling the pressure.

Hsia also took the next after Drago, perhaps sensing his chance of victory slipping away, snatched at too many balls when they became available.

At 6-5 behind, Hsia broke off but with two balls down he had no shot on the 1-ball. He played safe but Drago held on to clear and get to the hill at 7-5.

Drago then crashed home the break shot and saw four balls drop but his nerves got the better of him as he ran out of position with just three balls remaining.

Safety play followed, and it was Hsia who cracked first but Drago could not cash in as he missed an easy long 5-ball to give the Taiwanese a lifeline. He took it and moved to 7-6.

In what was to be the final rack, it was Hsia who made the mistake as a delicate safety shot after the break fell fractionally short and allowed Drago to roll a long angled two ball into the top pocket. From there, he composed himself and ran the remaining balls to become 2003 World Pool Masters champion.

For Drago it was the end of what was a lucrative summer of pool. His winner's cheque of $20,000 coupled with his World Championship prize-money of $17,500 adds up to a tidy sum.

Drago is one of cue sports emotional characters and he was absolutely delighted to have bagged pool's most prestigious invitational event.

"I've been playing 9-ball for six years now and I just love the game," he said.

"When I'm not playing snooker I practice six hours a day and I'm a real 9-ball player. To win this is something else for me.

"I enjoyed it so much and the crowd here was fantastic - the best in the world. I'm starting to play more and more and 9-ball will be a big part of my future."

A deflated Hsia admitted he had not performed as well as he could: "I'm very disappointed, I didn't do my best," he said.

"As an Asian, it's a pleasure to be invited to events like this and I wanted to do as well as I could so I hope I get other chances as I'm not satisfied.

"The conditions got more smoky and warm and I couldn't concentrate properly but I enjoyed it. The crowd was more in his favour than mine but that's understandable and now I go to the Asian Masters in Beijing for my next tournament."