Wallace hoping for a better outcome against Morgan

PATRICK Wallace is heading into today’s match with Darren Morgan more in hope than expectation as his Senior World Championship campaign gets underway at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield.

And while he can take confidence from reaching the semi-finals of the World Championships last year, he also has added determination to put on a show against the Welshman who ousted him at the first round stage two years ago.

“I missed a lot of opportunities early in the match to stamp my authority on it. I let him off the hook and then he played quite well with four 70 breaks in the match,” he acknowledged about their previous meeting in 2020.

“He was there for the taking early doors and when I didn’t take that chance he turned round and punished me very heavily.

“It was disappointing so hopefully this will be a better quality game and hopefully the result will go my way this time.

“Last year, obviously it was difficult circumstances for me. My mum was very seriously ill and she died the day after the tournament finished so it was certainly mixed emotions.

“I was very pleased to reach the semis at the World Seniors and the Crucible, it was a brilliant achievement for me but it was tinged with a lot of sadness because I knew she wasn’t well and she hadn’t got long left.

“But I’m going to do what I always do and that is give it 100 per cent and if that’s not enough then there’s not much else i can do.”

The Dungannon man has endured a fairly frustrating season by his own high standards, winning the Coach Classic and the European Qualifier in a campaign that petered out somewhat after a bright start.

“My for this year has been more down than up,” he admitted. “It’s been a very ordinary season. I have won two of the Northern Ireland ranking tournaments but I haven’t played overly well in any of them, I’ve been scratching around for results.

“I guess that’s just too many birthdays – I’m 52, soon to be 53 and it doesn’t get any easier when you’re clocking up the miles!”

And his hopes for a solid build-up ahead of his trip to Sheffield haven’t gone to plan either with a family bereavement and a poor run at the World Team Championships alongside Raymond Fry and Declan Lavery proving frustrating.

“I was hoping for a bit of decent match practice in Reading but it didn’t happen so it’s back to the drawing board,” he concluded.