Sight troubles end Ross Muir's Scottish Open bid

ROSS MUIR was left heartbroken as a chance of home glory slipped through his fingers at the Coral Scottish Open in what he described as the worst display of his season.

Ross Muir felt 'horrendous' on the morning of the match

In Scotland’s first major tournament since 2010, Muir arrived in Glasgow’s Emirates Arena with plenty of confidence, only to be scuppered before he had even started his match.

Illness plagued the 21-year-old’s preparation but he still managed to force a deciding frame on Tuesday evening, only to lose on the penultimate pink ball – a cruel way to exit the competition at the hands of Gareth Allen.

Muir was left devastated as the Welshman progressed to the second round.

“It’s probably the worst match I’ve played this year by an absolute mile,” said Muir. “I woke up in the morning feeling absolutely horrendous, my eyesight wasn’t there and I felt very unfortunate before I’d even got into the match.

“It’s unlucky, he didn’t really do enough to win the match and neither of us will be looking to remember that game at all, it was pretty shocking.

“I couldn’t even see a long ball. But I can’t be too harsh on myself, it was bad luck more than anything.”

The 21-year-old’s performances had been on the upturn prior to Glasgow, as he reached the last 64 of the German Masters after a wretched start to the season. It was a run that included a maximum break against Brazilian Itaro Santos.

But the Scot struggled for rhythm, unable to make a break of more than 50 in Glasgow. And the world No.69 admitted it will take time to get over the disappointment.

“Form had been good coming into it. I’d made a 147 so had a lot of confidence and was disappointed I couldn’t really give it my all,” he continued.

“I’d been looking forward to the game all year, it’s doubly disappointing and I’d have loved to have been in Glasgow all week so it’s hard to take.

“Hopefully it can still be a good tournament and the home fans can get some good snooker. Scotland deserves that one tournament a year as a minimum, a lot of people follow snooker and hopefully it’s here to stay for a long time.”

• Watch the Scottish Open LIVE on Eurosport 1 and Quest, featuring daily studio analysis from Ronnie O’Sullivan, Jimmy White and Neal Foulds