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. ↩︎