Gerard Greene’s snooker cue is lucky to be in one piece after his 19.com English Open first-round performance left his career at rock-bottom.

The 45-year-old – born in Chatham – endured a topsy-turvy encounter in which China’s Tian Pengfei edged the contest 4-3 on the final black.

His disappointment at the game’s conclusion was clear to see, and Greene – who competed in his first season as a professional back in 1993 – is struggling to see light at the end of the tunnel.

He said: “I thought I had a good chance with the game at 3-3, I had a good break of 41 but just didn’t quite get on the black. After that, I was very poor.

“I’m finding it really difficult to get on with the game currently. It was rubbish and I felt as soon as I picked up the cue I was guaranteed to lose.

“At the moment I feel like breaking my cue and packing it in because I know I can play a thousand times better than that.

"In the end my display was typical of my whole season so far. It just seems that everything I touch turns to rubbish.

“At the moment, it’s really difficult to see myself improving across the rest of the campaign. I don’t think I have the ability to win games and I’m not sure what I can do to change that.

“I think I need to step away for a bit because as it stands I don’t even care about the game.”

Ditton potter Barry Hawkins was also in action in Crawley, with this season’s Paul Hunter Classic champion cruising through with a 4-0 win over Amine Amiri.

Breaks of 97 and 99 proved enough for the world No.10 to prevail though he’s fully aware that tougher tests await.

“I don’t know if he’s been playing long, but you could tell he wasn’t used to the conditions. He was struggling a bit so it was a bit of a strange one,” he said.

“I felt pretty good but it’s hard to tell after a match like that. It was mine to lose, but I didn’t have any big misses so overall I’m pleased.

"I’ve been playing a lot lately and hopefully that can kick me on for the next few rounds now.”

Watch the English Open live on Eurosport and Eurosport Player with studio analysis from Ronnie O’Sullivan and Jimmy White

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