DARREN Morgan has been left frustrated with snooker after going down to defeat in the Welsh Open yesterday.

The Fleur-de-Lys' 37-year-old reckons he had too much time putting pressure on himself during his 16-year professional snooker career instead of enjoying the ride while it lasted.

Now, after a couple of years where he has been thinking of hanging up his cue, the former World Championships semi-finalists has got the buzz back again - but all too late.

For Morgan, who went down 5-1 to Scotland's Drew Henry in his first appearance at a world ranking tournament final stages venue in three years, will probably not be on the main tour circuit next year when it is re-structured.

And he will not be punishing himself on the lower Challenge Tour either which all points towards the end of his career as a big time player.

He admits that it is probably his own fault, due to his mentality about snooker, that caused him to miss out on a world ranking title. He never won one during his career despite taking other tournaments like the Benson and Hedges Irish Masters.

He said: "I've been on about finishing for a couple of years and now I want to play more, the finishing line is getting closer.

"I've probably left it too late to get on the main tour now. I've left myself too much to do. I'm up there now (in qualifiers) with people who are as hungry as hell to win.

"I've tried to do the coaching bit with Terry (Griffiths) and it didn't really work for me as it did with Stephen (Hendry) and Mark Williams. Terry tried his hardest but sometimes it doesn't happen.

"If I could go back in time, I would have made sure I enjoyed myself. I spent too much time being stressed but, when you look back, I had a great time which saw me go to different countries and meet a lot of different people.

"When it's gone, you always want it back but the talents that got me there are now letting me down."

Morgan had beaten his opponent yesterday, Scotland's Drew Henry, regularly in the past but, watched by some of his Saturday Snooker Club from the Red Triangle Club in Cross Keys, along with their parents and his own eight-year-old girl, Paige, the Gwent ace put too much pressure on himself.

He won the first frame but never hit the heights that he once showed when reaching the Crucible semi-finals during his heyday.

His highest breaks during the match, despite scoring centuries and beyond in practice, were just 24 and 31. He admitted: "That's just not good enough when your opponent is hitting 50s and 60s like today."

Morgan was not alone in going out of the tournament because Carmarthen's reigning UK champion Matthew Stevens was crushed 5-2 by Hong Kong's Marco Fu last night.

There is some Welsh presence in the second round as Neath's Dominic Dale won 5-3 against Kent's Barry Hawkins.

l Marco Fu shocked the tournament by knocking out newly-crowned UK champion Matthew Stevens in emphatic style.

Welshman Stevens was denied the chance to impress in Cardiff as Hong Kong's Fu strolled into the last 16 with a 5-2 victory.

You can count on one hand how many balls I missed," world number nine Stevens, who has just become a father, said. "Marco played really well all through the match and deserved to win.

"The new baby didn't make any difference to the result. I've been putting a lot of work in these last few days and felt good going into the match but Marco was better on the night.

I've won the UK and am probably playing the best snooker of my life so I can't be too disappointed."

Fu, who faces Ken Doherty or Michael Holt for a quarter-final place, was a semi-finalist in the event last year.

"Matthew is the number one right now so I'm delighted to beat a player of his calibre," said Fu.