With the event well supported by a growing Dutch pool contingent, both players made their way into the arena through the palls of dry ice. It was Drago's first major pool final but having come so far in the event he was determined as ever as he won the lag by a hair's breadth.

Setting his stall out early, Drago broke and ran out the opener but a scratched off the break in the next to let Hsia in to open his account. The Taiwanese player then moved into the lead as he cleared from the break but in the next game he left a 3 ball o­n for Drago who took full advantage to achieve parity.

Tony made three balls o­n the break but was forced to push out after being hooked o­n the 2 ball. Hsia rolled it in but found himself hooked behind the brown 7. He masséd his way out of trouble but the tip of his cue nudged the brown to give Drago ball in hand from where he dished up to go into the lead at 3 - 2.

Another lightning fast break and run from Tornado Tony put him further ahead at 4 - 2 and more of the same in the seventh game saw him increase his lead to 5 - 2.

Drago was o­n fire in the next as he broke the balls and ran out in barely a minute and at 6 - 2, the winning line was getting closer.

However, a dry break in the next let Hsia back to the table but he could o­nly play safe. Eventually, though, Drago snatched at a long cut o­n the 1 ball and missed to let a nervy looking Hsia complete the clearance to win the rack and go to 6 - 3.

Hsia broke and ran out in the next and as the match came to the closing stages both players were feeling the pressure. Hsia also took the next after Drago, perhaps sensing his chance of victory slip away, snatched at too many balls when they became available.

At 6 - 5 behind, Hsia broke off but with two balls down he had no shot o­n the 1 ball. He played safe but Drago played his fourth consecutive poor shot to leave Hsia a very tough bridge over the 9 ball. He made the 1 ball superbly but missed a long 2 ball to let Drago in. Despite his obvious nerves, he held o­n to clear and get to the hill at 7 - 5.

Drago crashed home the break shot and saw four balls drop but his nerves got the better of him as he ran out of position with just three balls remaining. Safety play followed, and it was Hsia who cracked first but Drago could not cash in as he missed an easy long 5 ball to give the Taiwanese a lifeline. He took it and moved to 7 - 6.

In what was to be the final rack, it was Hsia who made the mistake as a delicate safety shot after the break fell fractionally short and allowed Drago to roll a long angled two ball into the top pocket. From there he composed himself and ran the remaining balls to become 2003 empirepoker.com World Pool Masters champion.

For Drago it was the end of what was a lucrative summer of pool. His winners cheque of $20,000 coupled with his World Championship prize-money of £17,500 adds up to a tidy sum.

Drago is o­ne of cue sports emotional characters and he was absolutely delighted to have bagged pool's most prestigious invitational event.

"I've been playing 9-ball for six years now and I just love the game. When I'm not playing snooker I practice six hours a day and I'm a real 9-ball player.

"To win this is something else for me. I enjoyed it so much and the crowd here were fantastic - the best in the world. I'm starting to play more and more and 9-ball will be a big part of my future."

A deflated Hsia, who earned $10,000 for his efforts, admitted he had not performed as well as he could: "I'm very disappointed, I didn't do my best, he said.

"As an Asian, it's a pleasure to be invited to events like this and I wanted to do as well as I could so I hope I get other chances as I'm not satisfied.

"The conditions got more smoky and warm and I couldn't concentrate properly but I enjoyed it. The crowd were more in his favour than mine but that's understandable and now I go to the Asian Masters in Beijing for my next tournament.

"The crowd are a little bit crazy and very passionate and I really enjoyed coming over here to play - but I was sorry I didn't win."

Drago Marches o­n

Tony Drago, who shocked the pool world when he ousted a slew of top names to reach the semi-final of July's World Pool Championship, is well o­n his way to further glory as he KO'd Earl Strickland at the  semi final stage of the 2003 pokerempire.com World Pool Masters.

It was another match of excitement, drama and entertainment as both players gave it their all in an absolutely classic encounter but it was the 37 year-old South London-based Maltese potter who prevailed at the death.

Tony won the lag and made the four ball o­n the break. He ran out of position going from 2 to 3 though but managed to make the pot into the top right hand corner. From there he cleared.

He came up dry o­n the next break though, and Strickland made the 1 ball but he then made a lame attempt at a snooker from which Drago was able to pot the 2 ball. From there he cleared the table to go into a 2 - 0 lead.

Drago had no shot o­n the 1 ball in the next so chose to push out. Earl played another poor snooker but cueing off the rail, Drago miscued and fouled o­n the pink 5 giving Strickland ball in hand from where he ran out to go 2 -1 and take the break.

Strickland broke and ran the next to level it at 2 - 2 but in the fifth Strickland was left with an awkward cut o­n the 1 ball following the break. However, in trying to gain position o­n the blue 2 at the other end of the table, he scratched giving Drago ball in hand. With the 2 / 9 combo available, Tony levelled it at 3 - 3.

With two balls down off the break, Drago snookered Earl who deliberately fouled. Drago was able to dislodge the balls and run out to go 4 - 3  and a further clearance in the next made it 5 - 3.

Drago made a ball o­n the break in the ninth rack but a tight cut o­n the 1 ball left him a poor position o­n the 2 ball and he missed the long angled pot. Strickland, though made a careless  bank shot o­n the 5 ball and missed  to leave Tony Drago an open table and from there he cleared to go to 6 - 3

The 7 ball went down o­n the break and then Drago played an attempted snooker which Strickland escaped from but Drago's next snooker gave Strickland all sorts of problems and he missed to give Drago ball in hand. He took advantage of a tough 1 / 9 combo to get to the hill at 7 - 3

Strickland though, is no quitter and he mounted a superb comeback as both players made errors under intense pressure. He got o­ne back in the next as Drago, with ball in hand, he missed a not so tough red 3 into the middle bag to give Strickland a lifeline.

The American followed that up in the next as he broke and ran to take it to 7 - 5 and in the following rack Drago missed an easy 3 ball trying to force position. Strickland cooly executed the run out to go to 7 - 6. Strickland made a ball o­n the next break but was left with a tricky pot off the rail to make the 2 ball. He played it well though and ran the rack to get to hill hill.

The final rack, as befitting such an exciting encounter, was full of drama. It hinged o­n an attempted snooker by Strickland as he tried to tuck the cue ball behind the blue 2 and black 8. He was millimeteres out though and Drago was able to put him into a tough hook of his own.

Strickland blasted the balls around the table with no chance of an escape and with ball in hand Drago completed a tough, nervy clearance to take the match and book himself an appearance in tonight's final.

"I was 7 - 3 up but it ended up a lot closer than that, I had an easy run out to win the match but I missed it - the thought going through my mind was 'I was going to be in my first 9-ball final.'

"I reached the semi-final at Cardiff and it's great to go o­ne better here but now I need to go all the way.

"When Earl smashed the balls, some people thought he was being unsporting but he wasn't; he was just trying to knock some balls safe."

Sure Fire Hsia Through

Top Taiwanese star Hui kai Hsia is through to tonight's final of the 2003 pokerempire.com World Pool Masters as he had a little too much for Dutch hope Alex Lely at the Hotel Zuiderduin, in Egmond aan Zee.

With a capacity arena clad in orange cheering both players in, the atmosphere was tense with expectation. Both players shared the early racks and at 2 - 2, but in the fifth rack, the white kicked off the eight ball and dropped into the top right hand corner off the break to let Lely back in.

However, he missed a relatively easy 6 ball and Hsia took full advantage to go into the lead at 3 -2. Hsia won the next and in the following rack, he tied Lely up in a snooker he could not escape from and that gave the Taiwanese ball in hand. He inexplicably missed the 6 ball though to give Lely a great chance and he cleared.

Lely made the 7 ball o­n the break in the next but snookered himself o­n the 2 ball and fouled trying to extricate himself. That gave Hsia another ball in hand and he made no mistakes to increase his lead to 5 - 3

Lely got back to the table in the ninth rack and appeared to be o­n his way  but with the 8 and 9 tied up, he was unable to free them and the balls ran clear for Hsia to clear up and go to 6 - 3

Both players had visits but Lely eventually missed a long 5 ball to let the Taiwanese back in but Hsia jawed a long 6 ball and that gave Lely yet another chance to redeem himself. With the pressure mounting, the cue ball collided with the black 8 to leave a pot in the 7 ball difficult to say the least.

Lely though played a great double bank shot to set up a much needed clearance and take a rack back and the score to 6 - 4.

The six ball was to prove Lely's downfall in the next as he missed a cut to give Hsia the possibility to get to the hill and he didn't mess up.

In what was  to be the final rack, Lely o­nce again made the type of error that top class players thrive o­n as he screwed back off the brown 7 right into the corner pocket.

With ball in hand, Hui kai Hsia cleared the table to win 8 - 4 and secure a slot in tonight's final against Tony Drago.

For Lely it was a sad end to the tournament as he never really got going in his semi final, much to the disappointment of his faithful fans. Although Hsia was not at his best, Lely missed too many balls and in the end it was the man from Taiwan who prevailed.

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