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I'm obviously a little bit down about coming so close to defending my Masters title before missing out, but at the same time I'm feeling pretty good.

If somebody had told me beforehand that I'd come so close I'd have taken it, and there's a lot more positives than negatives to take out of the week.

It's great playing Ronnie O'Sullivan, but you know that even when he's only got his 'B' game he's going to be very tough to beat.

Still, I had my opportunities in the final, but just didn't take them at the right times - and that makes all the difference.

Afterwards my head was still buzzing - there's no way you can get to sleep after a game like that - so I went back to the hotel and had a few drinks with some friends who'd come down to watch me... and it's amazing how the more drinks you have the easier it becomes to forget the disappointment!

Before I went to Wembley I felt that I'd been playing and practising well for a few weeks, so I thought that if I just got a bit of luck at the right time then maybe I could win. Unfortunately it didn't turn out like that - you can't always have things go your way.

It was still fantastic to be involved in such a great tournament: I think it's one of the best tournaments we've had for a long time in terms of the quality of play. What marked it out is that just about everyone seemed to be playing really well as opposed to just one or two guys, so in that context, having come so close is a massive boost for the rest of the season.

And that's where my mind turns now - I've a few more ranking tournaments that I need to perform in to get my ranking back up to where it was at the start of the season, but I'm already starting to look forward to the World Championship.

The longer matches and tournaments seem to be really good for me so it's exciting to start thinking about it already - and it's a great feeling to know that, when it comes around, I'll be one of the players that people will talk about as having a chance to win.

Log on to eurosport.yahoo.co.uk on Thursday when Mark will answer some questions poised by you, the readers, last week - and where you will also have another chance to ask him a question of your own.

Mark Selby / Eurosport