Whitewash 'a thing of the past'

The 34-year-old from Telford tumbled out of the Malta Cup after a 5-0 defeat to Hong Kong's Marco Fu in the final qualifying round at Prestatyn on Friday.

That represented a remarkable transformation in fortunes with Gunnell defeating Chris Melling by the same scoreline just 24 hours earlier.

But the county's top cueman insists his confidence will not be dented by the defeat as he focuses on his bid to qualify for the UK Championships in two weeks time.

"It was just one of those freakish matches where he did nothing wrong and had absolutely all of the run of the ball on offer," he said.

"Everything went his way and it was reaching the point where he was not only getting out of snookers but potting a red with the same shot when he seemed certain to leave something on.

"I could have played 20 frames and not won one. I was devastated while it was happening and really angry as I was driving home.

"I had worked really hard to get myself into form and then wondered why I'd bothered because I'd lost a game where I'd done very little wrong.

"But I realised quickly I couldn't have done a lot about it. It was one of those days and I just have to continue to practice hard."

Gunnell will continue his practice in Cannock where he has been given use of a table which is now an almost replica of a match table.

"The same lights used in Prestatyn have been fitted there this week and it's a huge help," he added.

"It means that you can start matches better because sometimes it takes two or three frames to get used to the table."

By James Garrison