GLASWEGIAN potter Jamie Burnett crashed out of the Australian Goldfields snooker Open yesterday with a quarter-final place within his grasp.
Hamilton's Burnett was thumped 5-1 by Hong Kong cueman Marco Fu in their last-16 clash at the Bendigo Stadium in Victoria.
And with that defeat Burnett, the last Scot standing at the second ranking tournament of the season, missed out on a quarter-final showdown with Stephen Lee today.
"It was a bit of a struggle right from the start to be honest," admitted Burnett. "I didn't get much sleep last night so I wasn't looking forward to it.
"Marco played well though, he scored well and his safety was good. When he was in and about the balls he took his chances.
"I can't complain about the result, I got outplayed. I went to China and I had Neil Robertson, I came to Australia and I had Mark Selby, two of the best players in the world, so it was a couple of tough draws.
"I managed to win those two matches so I will try and take the positives out of them rather than the negatives."
Fu won the opening frame before Burnett levelled with a break of 55. But it was one-way traffic after as ranking event winner Fu dominated with breaks of 66, 77, 41 and 65 to keep his hopes alive of pocketing the £46,000 top prize.
"My game has been up and down, I'd like to be more consistent," reflected Burnett.
"But all in all I'm pleased with the trip, I don't normally travel too well, but it's been a good couple of weeks."