Mark Selby

No excuses for Bingham defeat

Wed Sep 09 04:04PM

I'm still in China at the Shanghai Masters where I suffered a disappointing 5-3 defeat to Stuart Bingham in the first round.

I just did not get involved in the match, I started slowly and that allowed Stuart to get an early lead which helped him go on and win the match.

To be fair to him, he punished my mistakes, and I did not have that many chances as the match developed.

I think the key moment in the match came in the sixth frame when I was losing 2-3. I was 15 points in front and I potted a great red into the corner but then I cannoned off the blue and it went in-off.

If that had not happened I might have won the frame, gone 3-3, and went on to win the match, but these things happen.

I always knew my first match was going to be extremely tough as it was the first time in four months I have played a competitive match.

If I had managed to beat Stuart I might have been able to play my way into the tournament and become a threat, but I just have to make sure I'm ready for the Grand Prix in a month's time.

For various reason, not all under my control, I did not have the ideal preparation for the event but even though there are only six ranking events in the season I do not feel too much pressure just yet, it is not time to panic.

When I return from China I'm going to start practicing heavily at home and there are also a couple of events taking place at Pontins that I'm going to compete in before the Grand Prix so that will hopefully sharpen up my match practice.

++

Before the tournament I spent a week travelling around China to promote the event and it was a great experience.

It was tiring at times but I'm not going to use it as an excuse for my exit because there were snooker tables wherever we went and I got plenty of practice in between the promotional work.

Every time we travel back to China you can see that snooker is just getting bigger and bigger and I think it is important as professionals to take every opportunity we can to promote the game.

I'm still not fully in tune with Chinese culture though. Other than "hello" and "thank you" I cannot really speak the language and I try and avoid a lot of the Chinese food because they seem to eat anything that moves!

Still, we are travelling out there so much these day that it might be worth investing in a place there in the future.

Log onto eurosport.yahoo.co.uk on Friday when Mark will answer questions set by you the readers and where you can also pose a question of your own.

SHANGHAI MASTERS LIVE at 7.45am on British Eurosport (Sky 410 / Virgin Media 521) and 12.30pm on British Eurosport 2 (Sky 411 / Virgin Media 525); Also available on your PC via the Eurosport Player - click here to subscribe

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