SNOOKER: Second ranking tournament triumph eludes Chatteris cueman Joe Perry as he is pipped in European Masters final
Joe Perry during his World Championships second round match against Mark Allen earlier this year. Picture: TONY RUSHMER - Credit: Archant
Chatteris potter Joe Perry was left feeling ‘massive disappointment’ after missing out on a second ranking title of his long career.
Perry was beaten 9-6 by Jimmy Robertson in the European Masters showpiece in Belgium last Sunday.
The 44 year-old, who was aiming to add to his Players’ Championship triumph of 2015, lost the first five frames before dragging himself back into contention.
He reduced his deficit to just one frame at 7-6 after producing a couple of century breaks, but Robertson regained the initiative to complete a first ranking tournament victory.
It’s the third time Perry has lost a major final after being beaten by Ronnie O’Sullivan in The Masters showpiece of 2017, losing out to close friend Neil Robertson in the Wuxi Classic final of 2014 and going down to Stephen Hendry in the European Open of 2001.
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Perry said: “It is a case of having massive disappointment in myself really. I just played so badly in the afternoon session.
“It was one of the worst performances I’ve put in all year, but I’m proud of the way I stuck in and got out of the session not too badly.
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“I played well in the evening session and could have won the first five frames, but it wasn’t to be and full credit to Jimmy.
“I put him under pressure, but he stood up to it.”
Perry began his challenge in Lommel with a 4-0 whitewash of Sean O’Sullivan in the opening round and then saw off Oliver Lines 4-1.
Perry came through a final frame decider when pipping Andrew Higginson 4-3 in the third round before enjoying a smoother 4-1 success against Kyren Wilson in the last 16.
The Chatteris cueman then won the final two frames to snatch a 4-3 victory against Chinese potter Tian Pengfei in the quarter-finals before reeling off four successive frames to beat Anthony Hamilton 6-3 in the last four.
That set up a final showdown against Robertson with Perry pocketing £35,000 for being runner-up and climbing seven places to 18th in the official world rankings.
Next up for Perry is the English Open which begins in Crawley on Monday. He faces Daniel Wells in the first round.
