Future icon Tony Drago returns to action on Sunday in the Senior 900 class and can't wait for his big-time showdown with old friends and rivals Jimmy White and Stephen Hendry.
It's a great climb in Hull this weekend.With Ken Doherty, first world champion Igor Figueiredo and Barry Benches in another fast-paced tournament line-up.
Drago takes the opportunity to face his friend White again, as he wants to score a victory over Hendry and give the Scotsman something else to remember him by.
“It's always special to play Jimmy, we talk a lot. Maybe sometimes we can go a month without getting sick, but then we get stuck twice a week, it depends,” Drago said. Metro.co.uk.
“History is not good with Stephen.” We played 18 times, lost 12 times, then won three times, after winning three times, it was almost 15-3.
'That's not history. But I never thought I'd win three times in two months. And he never breaks down because he keeps planning this thing!
The 58-year-old's memory is excellent, with his head-to-head record 15-3 for the Scot, plus a hat-trick of Tornado victories at the German Masters, the Irish Open and the 1998-99 World Masters.
Drago has a chance in the coveted version of The 900 in 2022 and is keen to get another chance at seniors after seeing Hendry triumph at Epsom in December and Doherty win the event at Goffs which did not start this year.
The hurricane is in its right form, but despite the rhythm on the table, it never stops due to the professional ring shooting.
“I don’t play 900 lovers, but this is my first 900 senior game,” he added. “It was a lot of fun, I enjoyed it.”
“No penalties, people say that because I play fast and I like to ignore it, but I don’t like it, I don’t like it.” When I play, I want to be able to concentrate, without all this noise, shouting and scuffling.
I've never enjoyed penalty shootouts and the worst thing that's ever happened is the playoffs. Please, for the love of God, don't do this as a ranking event!
Drago may not be a member of Shoot Out, but he is still a great Sinoka man, having accompanied the development of the Masters of Saudi Arabia in Riyadh in recent days and hoping the game continues to change direction.
“Here he will compete in the world championship for the first prize of £1 million in Saudi Arabia in the coming years,” he said. “I don’t enjoy watching this because I love Crisol, but I don’t blame the players.
'It would be very sad. There are some players who don't need the money, Mark Williams, John Higgins, Ronnie O'Sullivan, they have all the money in the world, but they only have three or four years of playing time, why don't they play? First prize of a thousand pounds? I don't blame you in any way. But for me, as a player and now a volatility player, I have no pleasure in seeing this version of Crisol.
“That’s it, the Crucible is the best place, but it’s a bit small.” 900 people came, 1,800 stayed outside. You’ve got something to smell on both sides. A small house, Sim, I’d love to see it in Sheffield. More than a World Cup it deserves to be played with 2,000, 3,000, 4,000 people.
But don't worry, it won't be bad. You'll probably see at least two or three faces displayed in front of the phone. These guys have so much money that they don't show respect for the hair of the Sinuka players. We want to flirt with his wife to tell her that he's going to be late for the wedding or that he's going to move away. It might be in the 140 range, so it's possible to use the phone in the front of your bag. Joguei sinucabola nove no Qatar, foi Asim.'
You, dear Maltese, will be worried about hurricanes at this year's World Senior Championships, Disclosing Struggle with Mental HealthBut he says those problems are now firmly behind us.
“Is it good for the future?” he said. “It's all good.”
With the semi-finals of the recent Senior World Championships already underway, Tornado is still very much capable of sweeping the competition, just as the days of intensive training and travelling the world to compete with Tenham are over.
“I don't touch anything in a day, but when something happens, I do it for a week or 10 days, for an hour or two a day,” he said.
“Traveling for a long time, that life is over for me, nothing more. I’m actually over 30, I’ll be 59 in two weeks, I’m not getting any younger. Jamie still faces this, but not for me. Traveling to Europe for two or three days, it’s all good, but that’s it.
– I'm looking forward to this weekend, aren't I? I should have played in Hull a few times, but I couldn't. Corona virus diseaseSo I'm really looking forward to this. This is the best training.
Seniors 900 begins at 1:00pm on Sunday, September 8th live on Channel 5.
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