Mark Allen admitted he has conflicting emotions after powering to 6-1 victory over Stephen Maguire in their quarter-final clash in the UK Championships.
Allen and Maguire are good friends away from the table, but it was the former who found his feet quicker and never looked back en route to a convincing win.
But the Belfast potter revealed his mixed feelings at the victory.
“To be honest, it wasn’t great! In the first three frames, I played OK and scored OK, but after that, it wasn’t great,” he said.
“I didn’t enjoy playing against Stephen to be honest, it’s probably the only time I felt sorry for someone missing balls.
“I wanted to give him a shake to get the match going. But I didn’t get any enjoyment out of winning that at all.
“At the start, I felt OK, I was out there to try and do my job, but as the match went on, I don’t feel like I did that very well at all.
“I was conscious of who I was playing and the relationship we have off the table, I’m very, very happy to be in the semi-final but no enjoyment whatsoever taken from beating Stephen.”
Watch the Snooker UK Championship LIVE on Eurosport and Eurosport Player with analysis from Jimmy White and Neal Foulds
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