Neath's Jamie Jones frustrated after UK Snooker Championship exit

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NEATH potter Jamie Jones is dismayed by his lack of form after the UK Snooker Championship ghost came back to haunt him.

Jones met Liam Highfield in the first round at the York Barbican, the venue where he was beaten 6-0 by Gary Wilson in last year’s edition, and slipped to a 6-3 defeat.

And the 26-year-old, who made it to a World Championship quarter-final in 2012 and reached No. 30 in the rankings, admits he is going through a frustrating slump.

“It’s so frustrating for me because I was playing so well a couple of years ago,” he said.

“That’s the most disappointing thing about it.

“Even if I could find half of that form I probably would be doing better but I’m just not bringing my form out — it’s as simple as that.

“The whole season has just been quite up and down for me — I’ve had some good wins over people like Stephen Maguire but then some poor losses as well.

“I feel like I’m a better player than I’ve ever been but I just can’t seem to bring my form out in the matches.

“I don’t really know why I can’t transfer my practice form to matches.

“Maybe I’m putting myself under a bit too much pressure.

“It’s one of those things that when you’re trying to get wins and move up the rankings, you can sometimes get into a bit of a rut where you tend to not play very well.

“And that’s what I’m doing at the moment.”

Jones surrendered a 3-0 lead to Highfield on Thursday morning and never truly recovered, a break of 59 in the sixth frame his high point of the contest.

He added: “My performance was really poor out there.

“I’ve been practising really well and hitting the ball great but then I come out here and play poorly.

“I don’t know what happens to me here. I did play very badly last year and I’m not going to lie, that was in the back of my head this time round.

“I really wanted to get off to a good start but I just didn’t turn up. It’s incredibly disappointing for me.

“I’ll have a couple of days off now, watch a bit of the snooker before getting back to it. I’ll be gutted not to be in the tournament but there we are.

“There are winners and losers in the game I suppose.”

British Eurosport is showing 19 tournaments per season including the World Championship, UK Championship, the Masters and all other ranking events.