Donaldson unhappy at table conditions

Scott Donaldson slammed the table set-up at the Northern Ireland Open and believes the transition from the nontelevised tables to the cameras makes snooker feel like a different sport.

The Pe r t h potter embarked on a valiant run to the quarter-finals but ran into an in-form Judd Trump to go down 5-1 yesterday.

The world No 25 had beaten Sean Maddocks, Xu Si, Mark Allen and Noppon Saengkham on the Marshall Arena’s back tables to reach the last eight before taking on the world No 1 on the venue’s main stage.

The TV table had been re-clothed on Thursday but Donaldson let rip at the disparity in conditions as his wait for a first ranking event final goes on.

The 26-year-old fumed: “It was a rubbish game. I’m not making excuses, but I played pretty much all my games on the back tables and then I go onto that and it’s a completely different game.

“I was doing everything the way I was doing it in my last four rounds. It’s hard to explain to someone who doesn’ t play the game how different it actually is. It’s like playing a different game completely.”

Ali Carter joined Trump in the semi-finals with a 5-3 victory over Norway’s Kurt Maflin.

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Scott Donaldson: Beaten 5-1 by Judd Trump.