Drago will not quit

By Saj Chowdhury

Drago could concentrate on pool if he drops out of the snooker tour

Admitting that you are not as good as you used to be is a difficult thing to do.

Whatever field of work you are in, growing old does sometimes have an adverse effect on your capabilities.

Snooker is no exception to the rule, with veterans Jimmy White, Stephen Hendry and Steve Davis, seemingly having said goodbye to their best days.

Going by statistics, Tony Drago also falls into that category.

But dare ask the Maltese 42-year-old - who is enjoying the action as a fan at the Masters - whether he can still compete with the best and you will get only one answer.

"Of course I can still play at that level," he told BBC Sport.

"My problem at the moment is that I have to go to Prestatyn to qualify for events. When I go there I'm already two frames down because I hate the place."

Drago was one of the last of a breed of flamboyant players, dressed in his trademark all-black outfit during competitions.

He played the game in the manner of Alex "Hurricane" Higgins and "Whirlwind" White, and was consequently nicknamed, the "Tornado".

The top eight snooker players at the moment are nowhere near as good as the top eight of the 1990s Tony Drago

The Maltese star turned professional in 1985, but it wasn't until the mid 1990s that he broke into the top 16, automatically qualifying for a place at the Masters.

He was there for five seasons and reached his highest ranking of 10 in 1998, before he began to experience a decline in form and fortunes.

Drago is provisionally 69th and in serious danger of dropping out of the main tour.

And his frustrations came to the boil at the World Championship qualifiers recently.

"I was stupid," he said. "I was 3-1 down against Issara Kachaiwong and had the chance to get back to 3-3, but I played a bad shot.

"Out of frustration I punched the table and bruised my hand badly. But I'm on the mend."

Resuming his Prestatyn rant, Drago believes World Snooker should move all its qualifying events from the place.

"You could bury hundreds of things in the area and nobody would know you had done it.

"Some players say it's not that bad but these are the players who have never performed at great venues such as Wembley or at the Crucible.

"They have the snooker academy in Sheffield, so move the qualifiers there. They have beautiful restaurants, cinemas, bowling alleys. The chiefs of the sport have to think of the concerns of the players.

"I could lose my place on the main tour because of Prestatyn. For me, losing my place would be like losing a loved one or divorcing your wife.

"If I do drop out then I'll concentrate on pool. Don't get me wrong, I will always play snooker, but I want to be playing at the top level."

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Drago realises the standard from top to bottom is better than it ever has been but he reckons the current elite are poor relations of those of the last decade.

"The top eight at the moment are nowhere near as good as the top eight of the 1990s," he continued.

"Only Ronnie O'Sullivan and Stephen Maguire stand out for me at the moment."

It has not all been doom and gloom for the jovial man, who has carved out a lucrative and successful career on the pool circuit.

"Sports promoter Barry Hearn sent invites out to a host of players in 1999, asking them to take part in major pool competitions," he said.

"I thought I'd give it a go and it's been superb since then. I won the 2003 World Pool Masters and was part of the successful Europe team at the 2007 Mosconi Cup.

"I was named the most valuable player at the tournament.

"I've got some great memories from snooker but the performances at the Mosconi Cup will sit alongside them."