Pinner potter Martin Gould has his sights firmly set on causing a few upsets at the World Snooker Championship – determined to transfer the luxury of practice to his qualifying bid.

Gould has endured a mixed season and so far this month has crashed out of the first round of the Haikou World Open but reached the Championship League Winners’ Group final.

The 32-year-old failed to qualify for the China Open last month but admitted missing out on that particular trip to the Far East wasn’t necessarily received badly.

Without the long-haul flights and pressure of competition, Gould has been able to focus all of his efforts on getting to the Crucible and making his mark.

First Gould has to come through the potentially tricky qualifying rounds and – wary of an upset – he admits the extra practice is leaving him confident of making the main draw.

“It’s been quite pleasing to have a bit of time off, you want to qualify for every tournament but in some ways not going to Beijing was a godsend,” he said.

“Getting to the main draw of the worlds would put a good point on the end of a mediocre season and hopefully in qualifying I can sneak in under the radar if I can take in my practice table form.

“It’s not going to be easy. I always find if you play someone you know, the game can end up being a bit of a damp squib. There are a quite a few who have to qualify this year who the top 16 would not want to get in the main draw.

“There are players like Rob Milkins and Mark Williams there, then if the likes of myself and Michael White all get through, there could be a few surprises.”

The World Championship marks the traditional end of the season but snooker’s revamped schedule means players like Gould have little time to rest, relax and reflect.

But Gould admitted he will be reviewing where and when he plays next season in order to get the best out of himself at the right times.

“When I go to places like China or Australia I struggle to adapt to the time difference and after Haikou I’ve only just got back to normal sleep patterns,” he added.

“When I try to explain to people they think I’m just playing very badly, but I’m just not getting the results even though I’m playing well.

“No disrespect to Mark Selby but how often do you see him playing high-quality snooker? But he gets through it frame by frame.

“For the World Championship, if you can’t get motivated you’re in the wrong game. But I think next season I will be assessing how many events I will play.

“I won’t be completely doing a Ronnie O’Sullivan and I don’t think travelling to places like China is a waste of time but it could work to my advantage.”

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