There were few cheers for the Maltese wild card hopefuls on the opening day of the Malta Cup snooker ranking tournament which got underway yesterday at the Hilton Conference Centre at Portomaso.
Joe Grech, Duncan Bezzina and Simon Zammit were eliminated by superior opponents.
Alex Borg is also out of the tournament but the Malta champion provided stiffer resistance and only lost to world no. 60 Adrian Gunnell after a contest lasting three hours which went the Englishman's way 5-3.
Much of the interest in the opening two sessions was focused on the local players with special attention falling on the match between veteran Grech and Tom Ford, one of the new names on the world circuit. Malta's top player Tony Drago awaited the winner of this match in the next round.
But, Ford dashed all hopes of an all-Maltese tie this evening. He played superb snooker and also potted the highest break of the tournament so far before clinching a comfortable 5-1 win.
In the night session, Borg played confidently and at a par with Gunnell, sharing the first four frames to go in for the break at two-all.
Borg had looked extra motivated after the break and took the fifth frame from an erratic Gunnell who then made the most of a Borg error when using the rest to draw level at 3-3.
Borg lost some of his composure. He missed a straight black in the bottom pocket and Gunnell worked his way to a 4-3 lead.
Borg was leading the eighth frame and looked good enough to force a decider but went in off after a careless shot on the brown for Gunnell to clinch the frame and the match.
Prior to yesterday's match few people had any clue on the talents of Ford but the 21-year-old quickly caught the eye when he raced to a two-frame lead with runs of 71 and 136 - the highest of the tournament so far, including all qualifying rounds.
Grech looked determined to make a fight out of it when he won a tight third frame. But Ford, a former English U-18 champion, quickly recovered and went on to win the next three frames with breaks of 76, 41 and 124.
"He was simply too good for me today," Grech told The Times.
"I gave my all to try and get myself back into the match but he gave me little time on the table. I tried to play my game as well as I could but it was not enough.
"He is a very talented player and on this form he will definitely give the others a tough match. I believe that if Ford is on such a hot form, Tony has to be at his best to qualify to the next round."
Bezzina produced a creditable performance against Neil Robertson before losing 5-1.
Australian sensation Robertson, a quarter-finalist in the Welsh Open, immediately put his credentials on display when he rifled a 120 break in the opening frame.
But Bezzina was not overwhelmed by his opponent when he levelled the match in the following frame. Robertson compiled a 56 to take the third and fully profited from Bezzina's miss on the green to go 3-1 up.
When play restarted Bezzina twice had the chance to re-open the match when opening commanding leads in the fifth and sixth frames.
But the Senglea-born player first missed the blue and then went in off on a decisive brown to hand the match to his opponent who now meets Mark Williams tonight for a place in the last 16.
"I'm a bit disappointed to be honest," Bezzina said. "I felt that with a bit of more attention I could have obtained a much better result. But it's clear that against such strong players you cannot afford to miss the chances that come your way.
"I had good chances to go at the break at 2-2 and in the second session I missed crucial shots on the colours that opened the way for Robertson to win the match.
"But it was a great experience for me being the first ranking tournament I ever played in. I hope to have another go in the future."
Mike Dunn, the world no. 58, needed an hour and 40 minutes to have the better of Zammit in a one-sided affair. The 34-year-old English player quickly raced into a two-frame lead but then had to pot the decisive blue in the third frame to extend his advantage.
Dunn won the fourth frame with runs of 50 and 38 before wrapping up a 5-0 victory to set up a second-round clash with David Gray. A win against Dunn will put the Leicester-born player in the last 16 of the ranking event for the first time in his career.
Matthew Stevens was a relieved man after he notched his first win of the ranking tournament season when he edged Shaun Murphy 5-4 and book his place in the third round.
Results
Ford bt Grech 5-1 (115-13, 136-0, 68-75, 103-39, 75-37, 139-0); Robertson bt Bezzina 5-1 (120-16, 55-63, 94-8, 61-48, 70-67, 63-54); Dunn bt Zammit 5-0 (73-34, 89-25, 70-60, 88-43, 96-20); Gunnell bt Borg 5-3 (64-32, 44-65, 27-74, 74-13, 61-63, 72-43, 66-2, 65-60); McManus bt Pinches 5-4; Stevens bt Murphy 5-4; Doherty bt Day 5-2; Ebdon bt Holt 5-1; Hamilton bt Lee 5-2.
Today's programme
4 p.m. session - S. Maguire vs J. Swail; D. Gray vs M. Dunn; S. Hendry vs B. Hawkins.
8 p.m. session - T. Drago vs T. Ford; M. Williams vs N. Robertson; J. Higgins vs D. Henry.