Here is the WST report on what happened on day 5 at this year’s World Championship
Selby Relieved To End Crucible Losing Streak
Mark Selby won a match at the Crucible for the first time in three years as he hammered Jak Jones 10-2 in the first round of the Halo World Championship.
Four-time champion Selby was runner-up to Luca Brecel in 2023 then suffered shock first round exits against Joe O’Connor in 2024 and Ben Woollaston in 2025. When he was handed a tough draw this time against 2024 runner-up Jones he may have feared another early trip back to Leicester, but in fact Selby dominated an out-of-sorts opponent and sailed into the last 16.
The 42-year-old, who lifted the trophy in 2014, 2016, 2017 and 2021, is into the last 16 in Sheffield for the 16th time and the sport’s ultimate match player now faces an intriguing battle with exciting young potter Wu Yize, which starts on Sunday.
Selby was at his best earlier this season when he won the Champion of Champions and UK Championship, and though his form has dipped since then, he is always a threat at the Crucible with his exceptional all round game and patience over the long distance.
He took a 7-2 lead over Jones in the first session this morning with top breaks of 67, 50 and 78, then added the three frames he needed tonight.
“It’s very tough when you lose in round one because this only comes around once a year, it’s the biggest tournament and the one everyone wants to win,” said world number seven Selby. “Then you go home and the tournament is still going on for two weeks so you can’t get away from it. I was relieved this time not to draw someone from Leicester. But it was still a tough draw and I’m over the moon to beat Jak by that scoreline,. No matter what I have achieved, I felt nervous and I’m sure Jak did too.
“I feel I have still been playing decent stuff in the second half of the season. At the Tour Championship I was 8-5 up on John Higgins and then didn’t do too much wrong but lost 10-8. I still feel good in my game. Wu is an amazing talent and great to watch, he could be a future World Champion, I am really looking forward to it. I know I am going to have to be near my best.“
Jones suffers from asthma and explained how that affected his performance. He said: “I felt shocking this morning and the game turned into a nightmare. I couldn’t breathe properly and that makes it very difficult to keep my composure or stay calm. When you are up against one of the best players ever, that doesn’t help. But it’s not an excuse because I played badly so the scoreline would probably have been the same anyway.”
On the other table, Neil Robertson took a narrow 5-4 over Pang Junxu in the last of the opening round matches to get underway. Robertson compiled breaks of 81, 72 and 53 while Pang made 54, 73 and 122. They play to a finish on Thursday from 7pm.
I didn’t see much at all from the action because intermittent issues with my Internet connection, so I can’t really comment on how the match panned out. I didn’t remember that Mark Selby had suffered those early exits in the three previous years. In my eyes, he’s a top player and always very dangerous, so I expected him to beat Jak Jones. The scoreline though is severe. Jak Jones is a former Crucible finalist and I expected a much closer match.