CHRIS Melling apologised to his fans after making an early exit from the World Pool Masters.

The Keighley ace had received a wild card courtesy of a supporters' vote for the Gibraltar event but he crashed out at the first stage, losing 7-3 to Kiwi Matt Edwards in the preliminary round.

An out-of-sorts Melling made too many errors in what was the final match of the opening day.

Afterwards, he tweeted: "Sorry everyone I played like an absolute muppet. No excuses."

Edwards went on to reach the quarter-finals while, David Alcaide was crowned champion after beating Alexander Kazakis 9-8 in a cracking final.