Irish man David Morris was able to reflect on a satisfying run at the UK Championship despite the disappointment of a heavy last-16 defeat to Stuart Bingham on Wednesday.
Despite taking the second frame with two good breaks, Morris was eventually outclassed 6-1 by world number 10 Bingham. However, upsets of 2006 UK and 2002 world champion Peter Ebdon as well as Jamie Cope, plus a win over amateur Mitchell Travis, made it a successful week in York accompanied by a £12,000 pay packet.
“You’re still disappointed to lose when you get to this stage of the tournament, but I’ve had a few good wins,” he said. “There’s a bit of confidence to take from it but it would have been nice to compete today.
“He was the better player from start to finish. His long potting was very good and he just outplayed me. No complaints.”
Morris will be straight back into action next week in qualifying for the German Masters and the Haikou World Open and said: “That’s a good thing. If I had six or eight weeks off now, like we used to have, what do you do for that amount of time?
“Now I’m in pretty good form, you look forward to the next tournament.”
The 25-year-old from Kilkenny is in his first season back on the tour and almost opted not to even enter qualifying school after enjoying his year away from snooker.
Now, though, the world number 93 - a sometime training partner of Dubliners Ken Doherty and Fergal O'Brien - is relishing the game and feels at home among the big names.
“Before, it was like ‘what if the grass is greener somewhere else?’,” he said. “But it’s not. If you’re good at a sport you should really make the most of it, so that’s what I’m trying to do.
“A couple of years ago I was winning matches and wasn’t even enjoying it but now I’m just enjoying playing. I got to the quarter-finals in Wuxi and I never feel overawed playing anyone.
“Before I was like, ‘oh, I’m playing him, I can’t wait to play him’. Now I want to beat him, the fear factor is gone.”
