Snooker: Adam Duffy in a good place despite exit from Dafabet Northern Ireland Open

Adam Duffy insists he is in a good place ahead of next week's UK Championships despite watching his Dafabet Northern Ireland Open campaign draw to an end.
By The Newsroom
Published 22nd Nov 2017, 14:16 BST
Updated 11th Dec 2017, 22:35 BST
Sheffield's Adam DuffySheffield's Adam Duffy
Sheffield's Adam Duffy

The Sheffield cueman had already had a week to remember for different reasons, missing two flights just getting to Belfast on his way to first-round victory.But the form wasn’t to continue as Anthony McGill waltzed to a 4-1 win with Duffy not at his best, rueing a plethora of missed opportunities in the last-64 encounter.Yet with the UK Championships just a few miles down the road in York next week, the world No.91 is keen to focus on making his form count in the second biggest tournament in the calendar.“I’ve got the UKs next week so there’s plenty to look forward to, I would have liked to have gone further here but there’s a lot of prize money and prestige around that tournament so you’ve got to look forward to it,” he said.“I’m in a good place with my game, it didn’t come out in this match but if I’m doing the work on the table then those things do turn out properly and you do get the wins.“I know it’s in me to play well, but for some reason I just couldn’t get the points on the board, I had a guy walking out when I was on a pressure shot which didn’t help, those things bother you when you’re losing.“I struggled to score, my safety game was okay and probably better than his, but when I got in the balls I just couldn’t put a break together.“I should have got it back to 2-2 and he’s just gone and pinched it which is very frustrating.”McGill started the stronger of the two, the Scot easing his way into a two-frame lead though neither he nor Duffy were at their fluent bests.That seemed to change in the third frame however, a break of 73 halving the deficit in the first meeting between the paid in four years.But McGill maintained his unbeaten run between the pair, edging his way to a 4-1 picture to take his place in the last-32.“I played alright in the first couple of frames and then went missing a little bit, but overall it was quite good to get through,” McGill said.“I was giving him easy chances and he got back into it, but thankfully it only lasted a frame.“I had a bye to get to the second round which was nice, I had a chance to spend more time at home and thankfully I’ve made the most of it.”PLEASE LEAVE IN FINAL PAR – Watch the Northern Ireland Open LIVE on Eurosport, Eurosport Player and Quest with Colin Murray and daily studio analysis with Neal Foulds

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