Peter Ebdon needed just 22 minutes this morning to take his place in the Embassy World Championship quarter-finals at Sheffield's Crucible Theatre. But the war of words between the reigning champion and Tony Drago never materialised as Ebdon completed an emphatic 13-5 victory over his Maltese rival.
Both were in conciliatory mood after yesterday's flashpoints when Ebdon complained to tournament director Mike Ganley over the excessive heat in the Crucible Theatre arena and Drago was hot under the collar by his opponent's lengthy toilet breaks.
Drago had sarcastically applauded the world champion back to his seat after one disappearing act that was timed at three-and-a-half minutes. Ebdon's coach Chris Henry claimed the father of four had been suffering from diarrhoea.
Ebdon said: "I wasn't feeling too clever yesterday. I'll say no more than that. Someone mentioned an incident to me after the session. But I was oblivious to it - I didn't go out of my way to upset Tony. I was just focussed on the game. But I have known Tony for about 17 years. He was the resident professional at King's Cross snooker club when I was an up-and-coming amateur. I owe a debt of gratitude to him for even bothering to practice with me during my formative years."
Tournament chief Ganley policed the post-match press conferences fearing an outburst from one or both of the players. Drago was also more reticent than he was 24 hours earlier when he said: "It's not on what he is doing out there." Today he said: "I've known Peter for 20 years and he's a good mate so I'm not going to fall out with him over a game of snooker. Chris Henry, Peter's coach, told me Peter was suffering from diarrhoea. If I had known that I would have given him 30 minutes never mind three minutes."
Filed by Shane Murray
