Ebdon and Drago heal rift

By Phil Harlow
BBC Sport at the Crucible

Ebdon denied he knew Drago was unhappy

Defending champion Peter Ebdon and Tony Drago kissed and made up after their fiery second-round encounter.

Friday's second session of the match saw Drago sarcastically applaud his opponent on his return from a second toilet break and also concede a frame in exasperation with seven reds still on the table.

But Ebdon claimed he was unaware of any friction between himself and Drago and played down talk of a rift.

"I was totally oblivious to anything that happened on Friday," he said.

"I certainly didn't go out of my way to upset Tony - I've got tremendous respect for him.

Snooker's slowest players

"He was the resident professional at King's Cross Snooker Club when I was an amateur and I owe him a great debt of gratitude for bothering to practice with me as a kid and letting me learn from him.

"I honestly think that Tony is a nice guy and great for the game of snooker. How many players have got the bottle under pressure to go and play their natural entertaining game?"

But the top seed was not so conciliatory about the playing conditions at The Crucible.

Drago toned down his criticism of the defending champion

"I have spoken to tournament officials, who assure me that everything is being done that could possibly be done," said Ebdon.

"They can only operate with the materials they have been given and you can't turn a slow cloth into a fast cloth.

"I don't want to talk specifically about this tournament because I don't want to show any disrespect to the sponsors, but speaking generally, I've been disappointed with conditions this season.

"The cloths have been a bit thicker and I think that's affected me more than most players because I'm at my best when conditions are quick."

And Ebdon was not forthcoming when asked about Drago's comments that he had been suffering with diarrhoea, causing his frequent trips to the toilet.

Ebdon v Drago match report

"I wasn't feeling too clever yesterday, I won't say any more than that," he said.

An amiable Drago toned down his complaints after learning that Ebdon was unwell.

"If I had known that Peter had these problems I would have offered him as much time as he needed, never mind three minutes," he said.

"We have always been mates for 20 years and I'm not about to change that over a game of snooker. I wish him all the best for the rest of the tournament."

The Maltese star admitted he had only had one hour's sleep the night before his match with Ebdon after a late finish in a tight match against Joe Swail.

"Joe is my best mate and it was a very emotional day for me," he said.

"I could have done with a day off because I only slept for an hour, but that's not Peter's fault.

"My nerves were shattered and out there you can't escape. If you start missing a few balls, you start thinking that you're going to miss everything."