Mark Joyce falls short after ‘dominating’ the world No.3

The Walsall potter gave a valiant show of his credentials in the second round but breaks of 102 and 56 from the 2010 world champion dashed his hopes of progression.

World No.64 Joyce blasted his lack of luck in Milton Keynes and said Australian Robertson was there for the taking.

The 37-year-old said: “On another day I’d have won the match 4-1. The first frame he had the ton but the four frames after that I felt I dominated all of them.

“I think I played pretty decent and pretty solid but I didn’t quite have the run at the right time.

“Any defeat is tough to take but at this game you can’t afford to dwell on it – you’ve got to go away and take the positives. And the positives are for the majority of the last four frames I felt like I dominated. I’ve made a couple of technical changes recently and it’s still a work in progress – it’s disappointing but I’ve got to take the positives.”

The Thunder from Down Under raced into a 1-0 lead after a majestic first-frame century but Joyce, runner-up at the Riga Masters in 2019, pegged him back at one apiece. A break of 56 from Robertson then saw him regain the lead and while a fourth-frame win opened up daylight, the Midlands potter pulled one back with efforts of 72 and 54. Joyce had a string of chances in the fifth, but 18-time ranking event-winner Robertson showed all his class to edge over the line at the first Home Nations event of the season.

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