Jamie Burnett has revealed his anguish at failing to avert the betting controversy surrounding his UK Championship defeat to Stephen Maguire.
Bookmakers suspended activity on the first-round match in Telford after a flurry of wagers were placed on a 9-3 scoreline in Maguire's favour - the margin by which the Scot did eventually win.
Burnett missed a black in the 12th frame that would have made it 8-4, and therefore removed any concerns about the result.
But he denied any wrongdoing and claimed the pressure, after hearing of the rumours, got to him in that final frame.
The Scot told BBC Sport: 'In the last frame I have never felt more pressure in my life. I didn't think I could have played the colours knowing people have been saying things.
'On the black I said to myself, 'I need to get this, I need to get this', in case some people start talking. I just felt so under pressure, probably the most pressure I have felt in my life.
'Then to come off was the lowest feeling, I felt terrible.'
On the subject of match-fixing, he added: 'People have been laughing and joking about things like that for years, but to my knowledge nobody has ever done anything.
'Snooker is too important, there is a career here.'
World Snooker did not comment directly on the match but issued a general statement outlining their procedures.
It read: 'We have arrangements in place with both Betfair and and the Association of British Bookmakers, who contact World Snooker confidentially if irregular betting patterns emerge.
'In such cases the match in question is carefully monitored by World Snooker and a fair assessment of the player's performance will be made.
'In past incidents, which are extremely rare, World Snooker has a particularly stringent line where players have been judged guilty of match-fixing or intention to match-fix.'
The controversy overshadowed an excellent performance by last year's runner-up and world number two Maguire, who now faces Australian Neil Robertson, 9-7 winner over Michael Holt, in the last 16.
John Higgins came through 9-7 in an attritional battle against Joe Swail while Peter Ebdon edged out Andrew Higginson in the final frame.
Ding Junhui held off a late fightback from veteran Steve Davis to win 9-6 in a repeat of the 2005 final while there were also first-round wins for Ali Carter, Shaun Murphy and Mark Allen.
World champion Ronnie O'Sullivan was in impressive form as the second round got under way in the evening, hitting three centuries to take a 5-3 overnight lead against Joe Perry.
