Tony Drago made an immediate impact on the professional scene picking up significant points in his first few events. He had however already come to the attention of a lot of people. His phenomenal speed around the table led to him being likened to Jimmy White. Of his talent there is no doubt but his very obvious nervousness and the way he allows himself to be seriously affected by any bad mistake, has meant that, so far, he has failed to win a major ranking title although he has come close on a couple of occasions

Vic Harris, himself a professional player and the man who identified Steve Davis as a future world champion at the age of 12, was the first to spot the talent of the young Drago and he had the same feeling about Tony after he had won the Maltese amateur title in 1984. When he followed that victory with an appearance at the world amateur event, he set a new record high break at the time, of 132 and everyone was talking about this young wizard. He only reached the quarterfinals of that amateur championship but nevertheless was accepted into the professional ranks the following year.

After losing his opening professional match he went on to reach the last 16 of his second event, the 1985 Grand Prix, where he beat Eddie Charlton. In his next, the UK Championship, he reached the last 32 before Steve Davis ended his hopes. Despite early exits in the three other ranking events and failing to qualify for the final stages of the world championship, he ended that first season at 37^th in the rankings. The following season was much the same. He reached the last 32 of two ranking events and the UK quarterfinal but failed in the others. However he had done enough to get into the top 32 – just.  In 1987/88 he again got to the last 16 in the Grand Prix but his best performance to date came at the season’s end in the world championship.  He defeated Alex Higgins and Dennis Taylor before losing out to Steve Davis in the quarterfinal but this gave him his biggest cheque to date, £14,250.

He was now up to 20^th in the rankings and everyone expected him to move on into the top 16 the following year. In the event he did not get beyond the last 32 in any major tournament although he did reach his first final, the Pontins Professional. The next season he made it to the last sixteen in a couple of events but he was back at the bottom of the top 32 again. In 1990/91 he got to the quarterfinals of the Mercantile Credit Classic but his best result was in the non-ranking World Masters. Victories over John Parrott and Terry Griffiths among others took him to his first really big final and he collected £70,000 as runner-up losing 10-6 to Jimmy White.

Over the next two or three seasons, although there were one or two quarterfinals, he could not achieve the consistency needed to break into the very top level. His first, and to date only, victory came in the 1993 Third Strachan Challenge, a minor ranking event. He followed this with a much more consistent run in 1993/4 and at last he was in the top 16. He still could not make it to a semi-final despite several more quarters. When Rothmans sponsored an invitation event in his home country in 1994, The Malta Grand Prix, Tony reached the final but lost out to John Parrott in the deciding frame. Two years later he got to the same stage but this time Nigel Bond took the honours. He followed that with his only full ranking final, the 1997 Highland Spring International Open in Aberdeen. He came up against Stephen Hendry in top form and lost 9-1. However after another consistent season in 1997/98 he reached his highest ever ranking of tenth.

Sadly he did not go on to greater things. 1998/99 proved a poor season. He lost his opening match in six of the nine ranking events and despite reaching the Irish Open semi final, he dropped out of the top 16 after five seasons amongst the elite. In 1999/2000 things were no better and he was down to 26^th and after failing to get beyond the last 32 in any event he fell even further down to 29^th by the end of 2000/01. The next season was not much better but he did manage one last-16 place and halted the slide down the rankings, edging up one place to 28^th.

The highlight of Tony’s 2002/03 season was his first maximum which came in the Benson & Hedges Championship. Otherwise the season was uneventful but a slight improvement on the one before moving him up to 24^th. In the following campaign he reached the semi-final of the European Open in his homeland of Malta. During that event he became the latest player to pass the £1million mark in his career earnings. Since then things have gone downhill and victories have been few and far between. His ranking had plummeted and by the end of the 2006/7 season he stood 68^th and only just managed to cling on to his tour place. The following season was no better and at the end of it he had lost his place on the professional tour after 23 seasons.

Tony was determined to bounce back and he proceeded to win the EBSA International Open in 2009 which earned him a return to the main tour for the 2009/10 season.