Frustrated Joe thinks of retiring
JOE SWAIL crashed out of the Northern Ireland Open and admitted retirement is on his mind.
The veteran Belfast potter was beaten 4-2 by Scotland’s Eden Sharav in their last 32 clash at Belfast’s Waterfront Hall yesterday.
And after defeat the 49-year-old revealed: “If I don’t step up and get some fluency back then this will be my last season as a professional.
“It’s inevitable I’ll have to retire at some point but I’m not going to let snooker effect my health – and that’s what it has been doing.
“Unless something changes I’m going to have to wrap it up. I’ve really been scraping the barrel the last couple of seasons.
“I don’t know whether it’s my eyes packing up or my nerves letting me down but it’s soul-destroying when you can’t produce the form you used to play with.”
Swail drew level at 1-1 with a 59 break but Sharav ended the home favourite’s hopes with breaks of 59, 39 and 37 in a scrappy match.
“It was a struggle but to be honest it’s been a struggle all week,” added Swail, twice a World Championship semi-finalist.
“It’s certainly not easy playing here in front of my family, friends and all the locals. I don’t enjoy that sort of pressure.”
Former world champion Neil Robertson was whitewashed 4-0 by Chinese man Li Hang. Breaks of 67 and 139 did the damage.
Meanwhile, five-time world champion Ronnie O’sullivan stormed into the quarter-finals with a 4-1 victory over Zhou Yuelong.
And World No.1 Mark Selby secured his last eight berth with a 4-2 win over Martin O’donnell.