Tony Drago's run in the British Open came to an end yesterday after the Maltese professional was beaten 5-0 by Stephen Lee in the last 16.

Lee was firmly in control of proceedings throughout and was almost perfect in his play giving Drago little chance of getting back into the match. The world no. 5 from Wiltshire made breaks of 49, 81, 120 and 44. "You never know how Tony's going to play but I played the right shots and kept him under pressure," said Lee, who has won three ranking events but has not appeared in a final since the 2002 Regal Scottish.

Despite the defeat, Drago, who prior to the Brighton tournament was ranked 19th in the provisional rankings, had a satisfying performance in the £450,000 event after beating two highly-experienced players in the shape of Nigel Bond and Jimmy White and could improve his position even further after starting the year 24th.

Higgins makes back-to-back maximums

John Higgins achieved an extraordinary piece of snooker history yesterday as he became the first player to make two 147 breaks in consecutive ranking event matches.

The Wizard of Wishaw made a maximum in the LG Cup final exactly one month ago. It was a case of déjà vu during his first match in the British Open against Michael Judge yesterday as he took 15 reds with blacks and dished up the colours to register that magic number on the scoreboard again.

The break put him line for another £25,000 bonus. The 147 came in the fifth frame and helped the world no.4 to a 5-1 victory.

Yesterday's results: S. Davis vs Swail 3-5; Higgins vs Judge 5-1; Ebdon vs Walden 5-2; Williams vs Holt 5-2; Drago vs Lee 0-5.