Dott bemoans Crucible 'nightmare'

Graeme Dott has vowed to find a way out of the snooker doldrums but admitted the worst defeat of his career left him tempted to "chuck it".

The 34-year-old Scot, a veteran of three Crucible finals and champion in 2006, slumped to a 10-1 defeat against Joe Perry at the Betfred.com World Championship. His first-round exit left Dott in torment, and he would have been tempted to stop trying after missing a black during the 10th frame if there was no financial penalty for doing so.

Dott said: "If there was ever a nightmare in snooker, that was it. I don't feel I can turn it around just now. I feel as if I need to chuck it if I'm playing as bad as that. I'm sure I'll come back and play okay again, but I've no idea why I played as bad as that."

He added: "I just wanted out. I couldn't pot a ball, I couldn't hit the white. If you told me to hit the white in the last frame I'd have probably missed it. I just couldn't do anything.

"And it was actually more demoralising that Joe was playing so bad. You can usually take it if someone plays well, but Joe was missing, and even at 5-0 I thought, 'Joe's not really settled'. He kept missing and leaving me in."

Returning 8-1 behind for the concluding session of the match on Wednesday morning, world number nine Dott admitted he just wanted Perry to put him out of his misery.

"I got in during the first frame, but once I missed the black, if there wasn't a fine I'd have given up," Dott said.

"There's £250 fines for giving up so I played on, but I just wanted Joe to keep potting. I didn't want a shot. It's not a nice feeling."

The loss was Dott's heaviest at the Crucible, and Perry, 37, goes on to play Glaswegian Stephen Maguire in the last 16.