Joe Perry didn’t exactly live up to his nickname of the “Gentleman” following his second round defeat to Robbie Williams in the UK Championship on Saturday.
The 41 year-old lost 6-3 to his fellow Englishman at the Barbican, and quotes reported in the York Press left everyone with no doubt as to Perry’s thoughts on his opponent’s style of play.
The world no.10 labelled Williams’ turgid tactics as a “joke” and revealed “it’s the most bored I’ve ever been in a snooker match.”
Tensions obviously run high in an event of this stature but at the same time Perry’s comments simply come across as someone suffering from sore loser syndrome.
Tactics in snooker aren’t exactly a new thing and if Perry, who won the Players Championship earlier in 2015, can’t handle a little matchplay then perhaps he has been in the wrong profession all these years.
Perry added that “you need to go out there and try and win rather than try not to lose,” which seems like an odd enough statement considering Williams did in fact win while employing the strategy.
Indeed, Williams admitted that he had heard in the past that Perry didn’t think too kindly to slow play and, to be honest, fair play to him for orchestrating it so successfully.
Perhaps future opponents will take note now but perish the thought that Perry would have to work hard for a victory.
Snooker is a sport and as such is part of the entertainment business.
Of course, the majority of fans prefer to watch high-octane action with long potting and big breaks.
But the protagonists in this industry are also fighting for their livelihoods and for someone like Williams, who is ranked outside the world’s top 50, this triumph and the £9,000 that comes with it could be very important for his career in the medium-term.
Perry is welcome to his opinion of who he faces and the matches he is involved in, but on this occasion he went a bit over the top and it borderlined on disrespectful.
Perhaps if Perry had tried more not to lose he would be still in the running for this year’s title.
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Perry should have played better. When ur not on your game you can get bogged down in the opponents style of play. The better player can usually blast out of danger by focusing on their own game. His whinge tells that he was having trouble with his own game and got dragged into the mire, as you say, at this point in his career he’s seen the lot and its total sour grapes. Perry is also something of a bottler and hasn’t won as much as his ability warrants.
He often has a lot to say on Twitter as well. Seems to be at odds with his nickname.