Please note that this is NOT an official website. At this point in time Ronnie O’ Sullivan does not have an official website, nor does he wish to have one.
Snooker’s tournament structure debate is about more than flat draws
There are genuine problems with the current tournament structure on the World Snooker Tour, but calls for flat draws and a smaller tour risk addressing the wrong issue.
“I didn’t ask for this or expect it when I posted this post while I was on the toilet,” the 30 year-old, who is also a talented rapper, joked on Facebook afterward.
Devlin argued this week that the current tiered system is unfair to those lower down the rankings, pointing to the example of Liam Davies winning 17 matches this season and earning £38,900 compared with Ronnie O’Sullivan winning five ranking-event matches and collecting £48,000.
“Having to win three or four matches to get to the big names, then lose to them, and they earn more points than you is crazy in my book,” Devlin wrote.
He also questioned the logic of qualifying being used as evidence that players are match-sharp and ready for the main event when, in some cases, the two stages are separated by several weeks or even months.
His comments were backed by ranking event winners Gary Wilson and Alfie Burden, while former world champion Shaun Murphy agreed that a flat draw was the fairest option.
Burden, who first turned professional in 1994 but has spent most of his career in the lower section of the rankings, was particularly critical of the lack of exposure for up-and-coming talents.
“The current state of the tournament structure is simply an absolute shambles and disgracefully unfair to the majority of the tour,” last year’s Shoot Out champion said.
“For new pros and young players in the game now, playing in soulless qualifying venues for every tournament is no way to develop young players and give them the experience they require to develop.”
For a young professional trying to establish a career, reaching a major venue can be as valuable as the result itself.
Playing in front of a crowd, dealing with television conditions, and experiencing the atmosphere of the sport’s biggest events are all part of becoming an accomplished professional.
But does that necessarily make a flat draw fairer?
A flat draw is equal in the sense that everyone begins at the same point. A tiered draw, on the other hand, rewards players who have performed well enough to establish themselves higher up the rankings.
Why should the world number one and the player ranked 100th automatically receive exactly the same starting position?
Rankings are supposed to mean something, and there is nothing particularly unusual about higher-ranked players receiving benefits from having established themselves near the top of the sport.
The biggest tournaments also need venues that can accommodate their schedules, broadcasters need predictable programming, and promoters need to sell tickets.
There is an obvious attraction in guaranteeing that the sport’s biggest names will appear at the main venue rather than potentially requiring several rounds before they enter the competition.
That doesn’t mean the current system is beyond criticism. It simply means that removing the tiered structure would create a different set of problems.
It’s worth remembering that the World Snooker Tour not long ago almost wholly adopted a flat-draw system for a decade-long span, and there were plenty of problems and criticisms associated with it.
The draw structure isn’t really the biggest problem here. The ranking system is.
The prize-money-based rankings have created huge differences in how significantly an individual tournament can affect a player’s position.
The 2027 world champion is set to receive a record £625,000 payday compared with £312,500 for this season’s UK Championship winner and £100,000 for Ali Carter’s recent E nglish Open triumph.
Jak Jones, meanwhile, earned £33,000 for triumphing at the season-opening Championship League.
The difference in prize money is of course understandable as the World Championship represents the biggest tournament in snooker, while the Championship League – played behind closed doors – is an entirely different proposition.
But why should the amount of money attached to an event automatically decide how valuable winning it is for the rankings?
That’s the problem with using prize money as the ranking system. A player’s ranking should tell us how well and how consistently he has actually performed.
Neil Robertson came within one match victory of returning to the world number one position last month, but can anyone really say that he has genuinely come anywhere near to being the best player across the last two-year period?
Prize money is affected by commercial considerations, event budgets, and how much a promoter is willing to put into a tournament.
It’s for these reasons that a lot of the Chinese tournaments have grown in importance (never mind the ill-fated Saudi Arabia Masters), with events on the likes of the Home Nations Series deemed less vital as a result of the limited prize funds on offer.
A points-based system, more like the one used in tennis, would offer a much cleaner way of doing it.
The biggest events could carry the most points, with other tournaments given their own set value depending on where they sit in the calendar.
The World Championship could still be vastly more important than a lower-tier event without needing its prize fund to determine exactly how much it counts towards the rankings.
It could also help the very players who are currently complaining about the qualifying system.
If a player lower down the list starts putting together good results, those wins should move him or her up the rankings in a more meaningful way under a well-implemented points system.
Climb high enough and the rewards are obvious – start entering tournaments later, face fewer qualifiers, and get more opportunities to play at the big venues.
In that sense, the answer to a player being stuck in qualifying doesn’t necessarily have to be eliminating qualifying.
It could be providing a better escape out of it.
There is another peculiarity in the current system that makes things even more complicated – the Players Series.
The World Grand Prix, Players Championship, and Tour Championship are among the richest events on the calendar, with qualification based on the one-year ranking list.
Once a player qualifies, however, he receives ranking money even if he loses his opening match.
That’s different from the vast majority of ranking events, where a player’s first-round defeat means no ranking money is earned.
That doesn’t mean the Players Series shouldn’t exist, or that those events aren’t deserving of their lucrative status.
It does, however, add another layer to a ranking system that is already heavily influenced by the financial value attached to individual tournaments.
There is a difference between saying the ranking system is unfair and saying every player should have the same route through every tournament.
The former is increasingly difficult to dismiss. The latter is much more debatable.
Once a player qualifies, however, he receives ranking money even if he loses his opening match.
That’s different from the vast majority of ranking events, where a player’s first-round defeat means no ranking money is earned.
That doesn’t mean the Players Series shouldn’t exist, or that those events aren’t deserving of their lucrative status.
It does, however, add another layer to a ranking system that is already heavily influenced by the financial value attached to individual tournaments.
There is a difference between saying the ranking system is unfair and saying every player should have the same route through every tournament.
The former is increasingly difficult to dismiss. The latter is much more debatable.
That seems an extraordinary trade-off for a sport that is supposed to be expanding globally.
In recent years, snooker has been developing in markets beyond its traditional strongholds, with more players from emerging countries like Poland, Latvia, Ukraine, and Austria attempting to break onto the professional circuit.
Reducing the size of the tour would inevitably make that pathway narrower.
There are genuine questions around the amount of time lower-ranked players spend in qualifying venues, the development opportunities available to younger professionals, and whether the current balance between the top end and the rest of the tour is right.
Those issues could be addressed without abandoning the benefits of having a tiered system.
Ali Carter’s response to the debate was typically straightforward: “As a pro for 30 years, whatever the format – if you are good enough, you will get there.”
Professional sport is built around a hierarchy, and players who establish themselves at the top should receive some benefit from doing so.
The bigger question is why snooker is using prize money as its main way of measuring achievement when the amount of money attached to an event and the difficulty of winning it are not always the same thing.
A points-based ranking system, with properly defined values for different tournaments, could give the biggest events the weight they deserve while also giving players lower down the rankings a clearer opportunity to climb.
That would leave room to look at the qualifying system and find better ways of giving young professionals experience at major venues, without requiring every player to start every tournament at the same point.
Snooker doesn’t need to flatten everything or shrink the tour.
It needs a ranking system that better reflects what actually happens on the table.
I totally agree with David’s analysis and I believe that the answer to those issues exist: an ELO type point system. Basically in this system, the result of a match is a transfer of points from the loser to the winner, and how many points are transferred depends on the ELO rating of both players ahead of the match and the actual outcome of the match, not just who won and who lost, but what the score actually is. At the core of such system is a mathematical probabilistic model. The more “unlikely” a result is ahead of the match1, the bigger the transfer of points. I have already touched the subject on this blog and the biggest objection presented to me was always that it would be difficult to understand by the average fan, and those who bet on matches. Frankly, I couldn’t care less about the latter objection. You don’t want risk to lose money? Don’t bet. It’s that simple. As for the first objection, programs could be developed2 that could present the fans with the various possible “monetary outcome” associated with every possible result.
Based on their previous rating, and results of their previous matches if any. ↩︎
Probably already exist as ELO is used in some other sports ↩︎
Mark Allen has pulled out of this month’s Shenzhen Open for personal reasons.
Allen was due to face Ben Mertens on Monday September 28th. Mertens will receive a bye to the last 32.
The event runs from September 28 to October 4.
Now this is becoming a bit puzzling, worrying even. Mark has not played competitively at all this season. “Personal reasons” could be anything really so we don’t know what is happening and, of course, we do not have a “right” to know. We can only hope that it’s not too bad. 😔
Essex favourite Ali Carter defeated Mark Williams 9-6 in the BetVictor English Open final in Brentwood to land the seventh ranking event win of his career.
The Captain, who is a qualified pilot, defeated Ding Junhui in yesterday afternoon’s first semi-final and had some unorthodox preparations for today’s title match. Carter took to the skies and flew his plane in the evening, whilst Williams was slugging it out in a classic last four clash with Shaun Murphy, which he won 6-5.
Carter’s previous triumph came at the BetVictor Championship League in Leicester back in 2024, but this is his first full knockout ranking title on English soil. It was greeted with joyous scenes in front of a delighted near capacity crowd in his home county.
Victory for Carter sees him pocket the £100,000 top prize and get his hands on the Steve Davis Trophy for the first time. He skyrockets from 25th in the Johnstone’s Paint World Rankings to 16th, putting him in line for automatic qualification for snooker’s Triple Crown events. Williams moves from ninth up to eighth position.
Defeat means 51-year-old Williams is denied the chance to beat his own record as snooker’s oldest ever ranking event winner, which he set aged 50 at last year’s Xi’an Grand Prix. However, he does become the oldest ranking event finalist in 40 years, since Rex Williams competed in the 1986 Grand Prix title match.
They came into this evening with Williams holding a 5-3 advantage, but Carter hit back quickly when play resumed. Breaks of 64 and 57 restored parity, before Carter claimed the 11th to lead for the first time in the match at 6-5.
Williams strung together a run of 60 in the next to make it 6-6, but Carter immediately regained the initiative by winning the 13th. He then claimed a tense 41-minute frame, after depositing a clutch green to the right-hand centre to go 8-6 up and one from the title.
With the finishing post in sight, Carter surged over the line with contributions of 38 and 54 to claim victory. He clenched his fist in celebration after securing a momentous win.
“It doesn’t feel real at the moment. It hasn’t really sunk in,” said 47-year-old Carter. “I’ve not won as many titles as someone like Mark Williams, but it is great. The boys know I can play, that is for sure.
“In all my ranking events I’ve never beat one of the all-time greats in the final, to do that today makes it extra special. Not being detrimental to the other players I’ve beat it has been lower ranked players than me. To play Mark Williams and win in front of my home crowd is a dream come true.
“I was flying my aeroplane last night. I was getting in it, running the check list, starting it up and going out flying for half an hour. I was getting away from it all. That was nectar for me.”
Williams said: “I tried my best. I played alright in patches. I didn’t play too well tonight, but Ali put pressure on me and I didn’t handle it very well. He deserved to win. It was a great game and I enjoyed it. I tried my best. The crowd has been unbelievable all week. The conditions have been good, tough at times, but good. Well done and good luck to Ali.”
I have nothing to add really. I’m not Ali’s biggest fan because of a few things he did and said in the past, but then, of course, I did and do not know what kind of personal challenges he may have been facing at the time. He fully deserves this win and huge praise for it.
Flying his plane at night may seem a bizarre way to prepare for a snooker final, but, it is an exhilarating experience, I suppose, and one that reminds you of both your frailties and your strengths. One of the books that most fascinated me as a teenager is “Vol de nuit” by Antoine the St-Exupéry, written in 1931, and it’s, among other things, about a pilot, Fabian, working for Argentine’s airmail, who is caught in a cyclone, and, unable to control his plane, knowing he won’t reach his destination and land, decides to use his last fuel to fly higher , above the cyclone turmoil, and experiences a final moment of absolute and complete peace whilst facing his own death in a stunning star studded night sky.
Home favourite Ali Carter delighted a packed Brentwood crowd by reeling off five frames in a row to beat Chinese legend Ding Junhui 6-2 and make the BetVictor English Open final.
Victory sees Carter through to the 15th ranking event final of his career, where he will be gunning for a seventh ranking crown. The Captain’s last triumph came two years ago at the BetVictor Championship League.
Carter started the week placed 25th in the Johnstone’s Paint World Rankings, but if he can capture the Steve Davis Trophy and the £100,000 top prize tomorrow he will return to the elite top 16. In the Englishman’s way will be either compatriot Shaun Murphy or Welshman Mark Williams.
Defeat serves as a disappointment for 15-time ranking event winner Ding, but he can take solace from a fine week which included a 6-2 defeat of 2024 World Champion Kyren Wilson. The 39-year-old had got his season off to a slow start, having only won three of his seven matches at previous tournaments.
Ding made breaks of 98 and 65 in the first three frames this afternoon to lead 2-1 and had looked good to extend that lead before a missed brown proved to be costly. Carter cleared to head into the mid-session level at 2-2.
When play resumed, 47-year-old Carter took the match by the scruff of the neck to blitz to victory. Breaks of 74, 119, 76 and 77 made it five on the bounce and wrapped up a tremendous triumph.
Carter said: “I felt I was just hanging on in the first four frames, but to get out 2-2 was great as I was always on the back foot. I went out after the interval and played no miss snooker so it was amazing.
“To get in the top 16 at my ripe old age of 47 wouldn’t be too bad would it? There is a lot to play for tomorrow, but I’m going to be in there fighting. Arguably Shaun is one of the best players in the world and Mark Williams is an all-time great. It is going to be really tough but I’m going to savour it.
“It is brilliant to be here. It goes without saying that it is all about the winning, but it has been a good week to get to another final. I’m still competing with the best players in the world and it is a feather in my cap.“
Quite incredibly Ding didn’t score a single point after the MSI … 😳
Three-time World Champion Mark Williams staged an epic fightback to come from 5-1 down and beat Shaun Murphy 6-5 to reach the BetVictor English Open final in Brentwood.
The remarkable victory sees 51-year-old Williams become the oldest ranking finalist in 40 years. Rex Williams was 53 when he made the final of the Grand Prix back in 1986. Tomorrow he will have the opportunity to beat his own record as snooker’s oldest ranking champion, which he set aged 50 at the 2025 Xi’an Grand Prix.
Williams will now face home favourite Ali Carter in tomorrow’s final, with both players bidding to lift the Steve Davis Trophy for the first time. The victor will pick up a top prize of £100,000.
Murphy’s year-long wait for a ranking title is extended. The Magician last lifted silverware at the 2025 British Open and has endured heartbreak since then. He came agonisingly close to lifting snooker’s biggest prize earlier this year at the World Championship, falling just short against Wu Yize in an 18-17 final defeat.
Things looked to be going Murphy’s way when he charged into a 5-1 advantage. Williams showed his steel to stay in the contest with an 82 break in the seventh.
Murphy had a golden opportunity to wrap the win up when leading 5-2, but crucially spurned a black off the spot leading 61-5. Williams stepped in and cleared with 69 to steal on the black and trail 5-3.
After pulling within one frame, Williams again found himself on the verge of a tournament exit when Murphy led 56-0 in the tenth. However, the 26-time ranking event winner summoned a clearance of 65 to force a decider.
The final frame saw Williams, who was competing in his 70th ranking semi-final, once again step to the fore. He made 69 to earn a place in the final, for the 45th time in a ranking event.
Williams said: “I’m not sure how I managed to win. I looked at the scoreboard, saw 5-1 and thought I was out. I stuck in there and made a few good clearances. I got it back to 5-4 and he started to miss a few. It was a great clearance to go 5-5 and an unbelievable break in the decider.
“He missed an easy black at 5-2 and I just thought at least if I could clear up I wasn’t giving it to him. Those matches coming from 5-1 down probably only happen once in a thousand. I just had to stick in and that was the one time it turned round for me.
“It has to be up there with my best comebacks. I was 5-1 down and 60 odd behind on two occasions. I’m over the moon to have a crack at the final now.”
Willo was 3-1 down but it’s not as if he had been outplayed. Not at all. All four frames before the MSI had been close, hard fought frames. Mark Williams temperament and battling qualities are probably second to none. Behind the apparently nonchalant demeanour hides a ruthless warrior. Can he win today? I believe he can. He has all the tenacity and the patience in the world and is more than capable to play the sort of game that could frustrate Ali and push him into taking unduly risks. We shall see.
I really enjoyed watching the 2026 English QFs yesterday. I feel that having slightly longer matches a this stage is a real bonus. Also, having two tables in use in the afternoon is a welcome change. Before this year, the two afternoon matches were not played “in parallel”, only one table was in use. As a result, it often happened that the second match didn’t finish “in time” and pushed the evening session, or one of the evening session matches, later that scheduled, causing all sorts of issues. Last year, for instance, the “afternoon session” second QF between Marl Selby and Jackson Page went to a decider and finished just four minute before 9 pm local time. As a result, the QF match between Mark Allen and Elliot Slessor started late and finished past one thirty in the next morning. This wasn’t fair on the players, nor was it fair on the fans who wanted to watch that match and, maybe, could not stay that late, be it because they got really tired or because they relied on public transport and couldn’t afford to miss the last bus …
Essex cueman Ali Carter won the last three frames to overhaul Zhou Yuelong and prevail 6-5 to make the semi-finals of the BetVictor English Open on home turf in Brentwood.
The Englishman came into this afternoon having lost his last three meetings with Zhou. His previous win over the Jumping Dragon came at the 2019 World Championship.
Victory sends Carter through to his 35th ranking event semi-final, where Chinese legend Ding Junhui awaits. The Captain is aiming to land a seventh ranking title and a first in a full format knockout tournament in his home country.
Zhou’s hunt for maiden ranking event glory continues. He has now bowed out in the quarter-finals 11 times, the semi-finals six times and the final four times.
It had looked like Zhou was set for the semis when, leading 5-3, he moved 55-0 ahead in the ninth. However, after missing a straightforward yellow Carter pounced and cleared with 71 to remain in contention at 5-4. Breaks of 77 and 74 came in the next two frames as the 47-year-old surged to a dramatic 6-5 win.
“I felt when he missed the yellow it was one I had to clear from. That really hurt him. I’ve been on the end of stuff like that a lot throughout my career, as has anyone who has played the game for as long as I have,” said two-time Crucible finalist Carter.
“I thought I was going home. The mad thing is, I felt the best I had all week and I thought I was going in the car to go home. This is just the game, typical, he’s missed the yellow and I’ve come back.
“That was a big match to get into the semi-finals. It is my home tournament and I’m delighted to still be in. It is all about winning, we are still punching for tomorrow.“
Ding came through with a superb display to defeat 2024 World Champion Kyren Wilson 6-2.
That was his third straight defeat of Wilson and it sees the Chinese cueman through to a first semi-final since the 2025 Tour Championship.
Ding, who composed breaks of 93, 87, 59 and 76 during the win, said: “I played pretty well in the first three frames. He was under quite a bit of pressure, because whenever I got a chance I was able to take it and win the frame. The last two frames were actually very close, so it wasn’t that he was playing badly, it was more about who could take their chances when they came.
“I’m looking forward to it. For me, every day is a big day. I know how badly I was playing. Hopefully I can win more matches and build up my confidence. It is working at the moment.”
Shaun Murphy overcame Judd Trump 6-5 in a fiercely contested tussle to earn his place in the last four.
2005 Crucible king Murphy suffered heartache back in May when he lost the world final 18-17 to Wu Yize, while Trump recently lost the world number one spot to Zhao Xintong. It was Murphy who left the Brentwood Centre this evening with cause for celebration.
A break of 67 saw Murphy over the line and booked a mouth-watering last four clash with three-time World Champion Mark Williams.
Murphy said: “I had work done on my cue between the British and coming here. I’m effectively playing with a new cue and I’ve had tip trouble since. I think I’m on tip four! In that context, to get this far here, it is probably one of the best weeks of my snooker career. Judd may not be world number one anymore but he is one of the best on the planet. Beating him is a real feather in my cap.“
Welshman Williams prevailed 6-3 against his friend, compatriot and practice partner Liam Davies to reach the 70th ranking semi-final of his career.
20-year-old Davies leaves Brentwood after a landmark week, which saw him defeat World Champion Wu and make the quarters for the first time in his fledgling career.
Williams will head into his last four showdown with Murphy in fine form, having made breaks of 63, 95 and 112 this evening.
Ding yesterday played really well and reminded us what a beautiful player he is when at or close to his best. He’s a delight to watch.
Zhou Yuelong, I feel, may benefit from working with a “mental coach”. He should never have missed that yellow yesterday, and it’s not the first time that we see him missing a crucial ball and seemingly never recover from it in the match. Credits to Ali Carter though because he took his chances afterwards and didn’t allow his past defeats to Zhou to become a psychological negative factor. The issue for Zhou, of course, is that, for such “mental coaching” to be efficient, the coach and the “coached person” need a common language that they fully master. Hence that means that, ideally, Zhou would need a mental coach who is a native Chinese speaker.
The 2026 English Open round of 16 was played to a conclusion yesterday in Leicester and it brougth a few surprises, as so often with this short format.
Welshman Liam Davies scored a stunning 4-1 win over World Champion Wu Yize to make the quarter-finals of a ranking event for the first time at the BetVictor English Open.
Davies has enjoyed a dramatic turnaround in fortunes this year. He ended last season by falling off the circuit, but bounced back immediately with success at Q School to regain his professional status.
The 20-year-old scored a landmark win over Ding Junhui in front of his home fans at the Wuhan Open last month and also defeated Barry Hawkins en route to the last 32 of the British Open last week. Now he has earned a maiden quarter-final berth.
Davies crafted a break of 105 en route to a 3-0 advantage. He then missed a black with a chance to secure the whitewash and Wu pounced to make it 3-1.
With the balls in difficult positions in the fourth, Wu embarked upon a potentially remarkable clearance to come from behind in the frame. He unexpectedly missed the green and Davies got himself over the line for a famous win and earn a quarter-final against compatriot, friend and practice partner Mark Williams, who beat Barry Hawkins 4-1.
“A couple of months ago I was in Q School wondering if I could really do this. Then I have a few wins and come to the first tournament feeling like a different player. I got a few wins and confidence behind me and now I’m playing on stages like that and beating the World Champion,” said world number 86 Davies.
“You find out a lot about yourself at Q School. Especially at my age, everyone needs time to get used to the tour. There are basically all your idols in one room and you walk in there. You have so much pressure to win and keep your tour card. Falling off and coming back on, that pressure has just gone.
“For me this is like a dream. You are waiting to wake up all the time. It is such a great feeling and doing my family and friends proud is really good.”
…
2024 World Champion Kyren Wilson scored his first ever win over four-time Crucible king Mark Selby, prevailing 4-3 to make the last eight.
Wilson came into the match having lost all eight of his previous meetings with fellow Englishman Selby. However, breaks of 84 and 52 helped him to victory this afternoon. It books a quarter-final against Ding Junhui, who beat Joe O’Connor 4-1.
Wilson said: “It just shows you how hard he is to beat. He’s been going from tournament to tournament and decider to decider, in brilliant form. Regardless of the head-to-head, it is a brilliant result against an in-form player.
“It feels like we’ve played so much snooker already this season. We have spent a long time away from home, but it is early doors. Any tournament is so hard nowadays, I’d love to go on and win but we are only in the quarter-finals.“
2019 World Champion Judd Trump battled to a narrow 4-3 win over Anthony McGill and now faces Shaun Murphy, who edged to a 4-3 defeat of Pang Junxu.
Essex cueman Ali Carter kept his hopes alive of a win on home turf with a 4-2 win over Gong Chenzhi. He now faces Zhou Yuelong, who beat Yuan Sijun 4-2.
You will find all the detailed results, and the schedule for today’s matches, on snooker.org … as always.
What I certainly saw yesterday is definite proof that the gap in quality/ability between the top players and the players further down the rankings has shrunk, significantly. This is why in the first sentence of this piece I used the word “surprise” rather than “shock”. There are very few results nowadays that I would see as “shocks”. And, yet, five of the eight players who remain in contention for the title are in the top 16 and we have two “mammoth” clashes to savour today: Ding Junhui v Kyren Wilson in the afternoon and Judd Trump v Shaun Murphy in the evening. I don’t expect too many lengthy safety battles in that last one! Other than young Liam Davies, the lowest ranked player in the field is Zhou Yuelong, ranked 22d , who faces Ali Carter ranked 21st. Young Liam, who is Welsh, will face another Welsh player, the legendary alleged “has-been” Mark Williams1.
but … as we would say in French “Méfiance! Il a de beaux restes, Willo!” et il ne fera pas de cadeaux! ↩︎
Mark Selby dug typically deep to defeat former International Champion Zhang Anda 4-3 on the final black at the BetVictor English Open in Brentwood.
The Leicester cueman is in a rich vein of form, having claimed a fourth China Open title last month and lost the British Open final last weekend against Jak Jones. Four-time World Champion Selby admitted to being exhausted after that match, but is battling on to remain in contention here in Brentwood.
Zhang, having made a century run of 109 to force a decider, appeared to be in the box seat in the final frame. However, a fine clearance of 39 from Selby saw him snatch victory on the black.
“I feel like I’m playing some good stuff. I’m scoring when I get my chances and because I’m confident I’m happy to scrap it out. A few seasons ago, when I felt I was struggling, I got down on myself. When the games went scrappy I wasn’t out there fighting. Now because things are going good I have the fight in me,” said 43-year-old Selby.
“A lot of that goes back to when I spoke out and mentioned my mental health. At the time, I was struggling mentally. If you are struggling mentally it is hard to give it your all and still fight out there. At the moment I’m in a far better place. I’m still on medication and I’m still speaking to the doctor who helped me to turn it all around.”
Selby now faces the prospect of a last 16 meeting with Kyren Wilson, who prevailed 4-3 against recent Wuhan Open champion Chang Bingyu. Wilson’s victory was almost identical to Selby’s, also clinching the tie on the final black with a break of 39.
Wilson said: “Chang has had a fantastic season. If someone had said to me it would be 3-3 and I’d have a chance to win I’d have taken that.
“Mark has had a great season. He is playing very good snooker so I’m looking forward to it. My game has been hit or miss. I’m working hard. I’ve lost a bit of weight and I’m practising a lot on the table. I can’t do much more.“
World Champion Wu Yize came through 4-2 against Xu Si and now faces Liam Davies, who was a 4-1 victor against Wang Xinbo.
Judd Trump booked his progression thanks to a 4-1 defeat of Ashley Carty. He now plays Scotland’s Anthony McGill, who prevailed 4-1 against former European Masters winner Fan Zhengyi.
As usual the “late matches” aren’t covered and they didn’t yield any unexpected result either as Shaun Murphy whitewashed Jamie Clarke and Mark Williams beat Matthew Selt by 4-3 but, maybe , it’s worth mentioning that Shaun missed the 10th black in a 147 attempt during the first frame of his match yesterday.
I watched the Wilson v Chang match and it was very, very close indeed. The only “one sided” frame was the first: it was won by Kyren and featured the only big break of the match, an 83.
The other match I watched was Oliver Lines v Yuan Sijun. It’s not even mentioned in the above report which is a shame because it was a really good match, hard fought and high quality. Yuan won it by 4-3 and, between them, they had seven breaks over 50: 50, 113, 87 and 55 by Oliver, 140, 61 and 66 by Yuan. The 55 by Oliver came in the deciding frame, as did the “winning” 66 by Yuan.
The first match on the main table today1 will be Mark Selby v Kyren Wilson … “une finale avant la letter” as we would put it in French.
Well I suppose it will be on the main table… if it isn’t I would be nonplussed to say the least. ↩︎
