Greene keen to recapture his old tour form

AFTER a year spent delivering tyres, Gerard Greene bounced back onto the professional snooker tour and is now desperate to get on a roll.

The Northern Ireland cueman dropped off the tour in May 2016 after 23 years as a professional — and 12 months of doing oddjobs in order to make ends meet provided a stark glimpse into life outside the snooker bubble.

It wasn’t a glimpse the 43-year-old enjoyed, but he won the EBSA Amateur Play-Offs in April to earn a new two-year tour card. Results since have been steady and he beat 1997 world Back at it: Gerard Greene beat Ken Doherty yesterday

champion Ken Doherty 4-1 in the first round of the Dafabet English Open in Barnsley yesterday.

“When I fell off the tour I was devastated and didn’t really know what to do,” he admitted.

“But I’m back on tour, putting the practice in and playing alright, so hopefully I should stay on tour for a few more years.”

Greene will be in second-round action today, as will Mark Selby — although the World No.1 and reigning world champion was given a huge scare by Scott Donaldson before triumphing 4-3 at the Metrodome Leisure Complex.

Elsewhere, World No.6 Marco Fu suffered a shock 4-1 defeat to Tian Pengfei.

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