Selby Stunned As Woollaston Scores Best Career Win
Four-time winner Mark Selby described his own performance as “pathetic” as he crashed out of the Halo World Championship in the opening round, beaten 10-8 by close friend Ben Woollaston who scored his first Crucible win.
Selby joins Kyren Wilson and Neil Robertson as the major casualties of the opening round and it’s the second year in a row he has failed to make the last 16 as he lost to Joe O’Connor in 2024. The 41-year-old came to Sheffield with high hopes having won three titles this season, but looked uncomfortable throughout and wasn’t helped by problems with his cue tip which had to be replaced before the second session. He made just one break over 40 tonight as his opponent came from 5-4 down to win six of the last nine frames.
Woollaston had appeared at the Crucible just once before, in 2013 when he lost in the first round, and his second trip to the Theatre of Dreams has given him the best moment of his 22-year career. Watched by son Edward and wife Tatiana, the world number 44 kept his cool in the closing stages as he set up a second round fixture with Si Jiahui which starts on Saturday night.
“Without a doubt it’s my best ever win,” said the Leicester cueman, now guaranteed £30,000. “I beat Mark Williams to reach the final of the Welsh Open in 2015 in front of a big crowd. But this is far bigger.
“Mark didn’t play his best but that doesn’t matter to me, he is still really difficult to beat, especially here. I did a lot of things well, I made a few mistakes but that was bound to happen. Mark is the best there has ever been tactically but I stayed tough in the safety battles and that won me the match. People might say his head was gone, but I made it hard for him and that’s why he got frustrated. It’s possible I can go further if I can play better.“
Woollaston took the opener tonight with a top break of 58 then added a scrappy 11th frame to lead 6-5. In the 12th he potted green, brown and blue to lead by 14 points, but Selby then got the snooker he needed on the pink before converting two excellent pots for 6-6. At the time that felt like a turning point, but in fact it was Woollaston who kept his composure and regained the lead before the interval.
Selby had first chance in the 14th but made just 37 and his opponent took it with a run of 60 for 8-6. Leicester’s Selby got the better of a scrappy 15th to halve the gap and he was on 12 in the next when he was unlucky not to find position when splitting the pack. Woollaston’s runs of 49 and 39 put him 9-7 ahead and he had a scoring opportunity in the 17th but missed a red to a baulk corner and Selby punished him with 81.
Frame 18 lasted 46 minutes and Selby looked favourite to make it 9-9 until he missed a mid-range red leading 37-13. Woollaston countered with 32 and later laid a tough snooker on the last red, setting up the chance to close out the result.
World number four Selby, champion in 2014, 2016, 2017 and 2021, said: “I was pathetic from start to finish, I didn’t show up and didn’t deserve to win. I didn’t score well enough when I got chances. Ben’s safety was unbelievable at times and had me in trouble. I love him to bits, I grew up with him and have seen him progress.
“Sometimes I just try too hard and stop myself from playing. I can’t put my finger on why that happens. I know I won tournaments but to finish like this puts a dampener on the season because my goal is to win more Triple Crowns, so this is very disappointing.“
There was a time when I was convinced that when Mark was playing slow and tortuous snooker it was purely a tactic to derail his opponents. Since, I have understood two important things: Mark has been battling depression since his youth, being abandoned by his mother as a young child and losing his father as a teenager had a profound impact on his personality AND snooker has been his first “refuge”, and the promise made to his father to become World Champion is what got him going. After a particularly “tortuous” match, that he had lost to Mark at ungodly late hours, Dott told the press that ” Surely he (Mark) can’t enjoy playing this way.”. He was right, he doesn’t, he just feels compelled to do everything in his power to win, including torturing himself as well as his opponent. This is sad really and it could be even worse if Mark didn’t have Vicky in his corner, unconditionally, through thick and thin.
I don’t enjoy seeing anyone suffer, and I’m sad for Mark, but, on the other hand, I’m happy for Ben who is a lovely guy and had more that his share of health issues in recent years. To see him play well again was heartwarming.
Luca Brecel revived memories of his 2023 Crucible triumph as he came from 5-1 down to beat Ryan Day 10-7 in the first round of the Halo World Championship.
Belgium’s Brecel is into the last 16 for only the second time in his career, having lost his opening match on six of his seven previous appearances. The only exception came two years ago when he went all the way to the title. This time he will meet Ding Junhui over a possible 25 frames on Saturday, Sunday and Monday,
Since that memorable 2023 triumph, Brecel has had few highlights on the baize. While he has reached the final of three invitation events, he has not gone that far in any ranking event, and will drop out of the top 16 of the Johnstone’s Paint World Rankings unless he wins the title again in Sheffield. In fact defeat today would have left him 48th in the world going into next season, though today’s vital result will boost him into the top 40.
There were moments today when his inspirational shot-making and flamboyant style reminded fans of his success two years ago, when he knocked out the likes of Mark Williams and Ronnie O’Sullivan to reach the final before beating Mark Selby. The 30-year-old is unlikely to change his all-or-nothing approach and will hope his game clicks in time for another deep run.
Leading 5-4 going into the concluding session, Welshman Day soon doubled his lead with a break of 101. Brecel took two scrappy frames to recover to 6-6, then in the 13th he got the better of a safety battle on the yellow, laying a tough snooker which created the chance to clear as he took the lead for the first time. In frame 14, Day missed a straight-forward red to a top corner on 62 but Brecel’s attempted counter reached just 8 before he failed to pot a red to the same pocket, and this time Day took advantage with 64 for 7-7.
Brecel dominated the 15th with runs of 46 and 42. The next came down to a battle on the final black, and three-time Crucible quarter-finalist Day went for a double to a centre pocket but lost control of the cue ball and it dropped into a baulk corner, leaving him 9-7 behind. Both players missed chances in the 17th, Day crucially under-cutting the black to a top corner when he trailed 37-14 with two reds left. Brecel later trapped him in a snooker on the last red, and soon made it past the winning post.
“The way I play is unique, I guess it’s not boring!” said Brecel, who has lost weight and gained fitness through regular running and cycling in recent months. “I was 5-1 down but I hadn’t had many chances at that stage. I never panicked because I have made so many comebacks here. From 5-3 down I felt I couldn’t lose. No disrespect to Ryan because we all know what he is capable of, but I felt so relaxed and I could see he was nervous.
“The way I play, everything needs to work. I am too lazy to change that. So if it doesn’t work I will go home. Since the Welsh Open I have practised every day for two months. I had a new tip which I am not used to and that was a problem in the first session, I need more time with it. In the balls I am ok, but on long pots I am just guessing. Ding is a bit like Ryan, he can miss anything and pot anything – a bit like me as well. It could be scrappy or it could be a great game.”
Day said: “I let it slip from 5-1 up. I didn’t feel comfortable, I was always looking over my shoulder. My game is not what it once was, and I have to come to terms with that because I’m not getting any younger. It has been the same for a long time. In the past I would have beaten myself up, playing like that, but not any more because I have learned to accept it. I still try my best and enjoy competing, I just haven’t got the game to play as well as I want to.“
The truth is that Luca in this mood plays crazy stuff. He’s taking shots no one else would take and gets most of them. He certainly knows how to take his opponents out of their comfort zone! Nothing is safe on the table when he plays like he did yesterday. It’s extremely entertaining for all those watching, except the one person sitting in their chair next to the same table, wondering what crazy shot their opponent will be coming up next.
Ronnie O'Sullivan 
Ronnie’s win was on Wednesday.
You’re right, of course … I only watched the second session yesterday and got confused.😕