Downbeat Dunn endures Xiao drubbing

Anyone who follows snooker on Twitter would have seen Mike Dunn's tweets midway through his 6-0 defeat to Xiao Guodong today.

Picture by Monique Limbos

Trailing 4-0 at the mid-session he said via the social networking site: "Something's seriously not right, this could be the end," and "in a pretty dark place at the moment."

He then added: "Haven't got the strength to fight outside a paper bag at the moment."

This is disappointing to hear from one of the game's funniest characters.

Dunn is one of the genuine nice guys in the game, and today should have been reason to celebrate as he returned to action after recently spending time in hospital to be treated for kidney stones.

As you would expect, it will take a little time to get back in the groove after a lay-off from competitive action but, a poor display and his own remarks, make me fear the worst.

This was by no means an easy match even if he was at full strength. Xiao has proved this week what a formidable force he is becoming in the qualifying arena. But the ease of which Dunn rolled over to take defeat suggests he may have lost the heart for the fight.

I severely hope not, but it will be interesting to see how he performs from now until the end of the season. Such is the high standard of players in the qualifying stages these days, there's no guarantee he will bounce back. Even playing a margin off his best could cost him ranking points and places.

I wish all the best to Mike as he continues his fightback. Right now, I bet he feels pretty low but, he has a whole lot of support from the snooker community behind him.