CONSIDERING that his main focus these days is very much on snooker, Chris Melling can't be too disappointed in bowing out at the semi-final stage of the $66,000 PartyPoker World Pool Masters in Nottingham at the weekend.

The 35-year-old from Keighley defeated third seed Dennis Orcollo, of the Philippines, and Bradford's Karl Boyes 8-6 at the Portland Centre before falling 8-5 in the semi-finals to US Open winner and eventual champion Shane Van Boening.

Melling confessed after his first match: “The only time I have played pool in the last six months was the World Cup, because I am concentrating on snooker now.

"Any win against somebody as good as Orcollo, whether it is 8-0 or 8-7, and I know I have played well.

“My plan was to hit the break differently. I have been watching quite a few breaks and to get the consistency you have to do something different.

"Dennis started to get the consistency from 6-2 down, and I didn’t have a shot until 6-6. You have to sit there and stay calm, keep confident and wait for the chance.”

The battle of the Brits was an error-strewn encounter but Melling said: "I thought I was the better player.

"At 6-3, the three frames he had won were combinations on the nine; he was making mistakes when he had to run a rack. You have to take your chances and I took more than he did. That is why I won.”

However, Van Boening's usual fast start was too much for Melling in the semi-finals, though the latter had the consolation of a $5,000 cheque.

It is then back to snooker for Melling, who will play three times tomorrow if he is successful.

He faces Qatari Ahmed Saif in the third round of the Kreativ Dental Ruhr Open in Mulheim an der Ruhr in Germany in the afternoon.

The winner could then face former world champion Peter Ebdon (tea-time) and former UK Championship winner Stephen Maguire (evening) in successive rounds!