UK (Commonwealth) _ Following his defeat to Gary Wilson in the Tour Championship, four-time world champion Mark Selby made threats to give up snooker and called his victory “embarrassing.” Wilson’s 105 clearance to win 10-8, although both players were quite critical of their performance in Manchester.
Selby said to ITV4, “I mean, I was pathetic really, from start to finish.” “Probably one of the worst professional games I have ever participated in.” Unquestionably at the top. “Yeah, I won’t be enjoying it and I will definitely choose a different job if I continue to play like way.
Gary performed well on Monday and earned his 5-3 lead; none of us played well in the second session. Neither of us had a fantastic game today. I thought everything matched. I was due to lose. I’ll try my luck at the World Championship, but I won’t stick around if I keep playing that way.
Before facing Zhang Anda in the quarterfinals, Wilson feels he needs to do better, saying to ITV4: “I’m not sure how I won, to be honest.” Simply put, I’m relieved Mark didn’t play well because I was humiliated.
Yesterday, the cue movement wasn’t even present. It could have appeared a little better, but I knew deep down that I was having trouble the entire time. I just attempted to plug away, hitting everything really quickly and stanchly.
Wilson retorted, “Incorrect,” when informed that he had set breaks of 95, 98, 78, and 101 in gaining a 5-3 lead from Monday’s opening session. Even though my cueing was terrible, I was still able to score. That was hurting, and it hurt much more today. I missed a lot of simple balls and gave him a lot of opportunities and lifelines as a result.
Really, I should have won that 10-3, 10-4 if I had been playing well and Mark had been playing as poorly as he did then. It was so close, it was that horrible, and all I can say is that I’m relieved he wasn’t too good either.
We go again on Thursday, and even though I’m not enjoying it, I’m hoping that I can find something in the meanwhile. Ali Carter survived a valiant comeback by Barry Hawkins to advance to the quarterfinals, where he will take on fierce opponent Ronnie O’Sullivan.
Hawkins won the first frame, but Carter quickly took a 7-1 lead. In the evening session, the left-hander won seven of the first nine frames, including the 17th on a repotted black, which he won despite needing two snookers. But Carter maintained his composure to win the next game and secure a 10-8 victory, setting up a matchup with O’Sullivan 11 weeks after the two engaged in a verbal duel after O’Sullivan’s victory in the Masters final.
Carter told ITV4, “He’s the best player to pick up a cue, so I relish the challenge now.” “I’m in the proper situation to face him in another quarterfinal; I played him in a final this year. Mark Williams defeated Tom Ford 10-9 in the decisive session thanks to an incredible 66-point clearance, securing a quarterfinal matchup with Judd Trump.
Williams just returned from a trip to China. “I was dead on my feet for the last hour and three quarters, I was absolutely shattered,” Williams said. I believed it to be finished. I’m not sure where the clearance in the previous frame came from. I think that was one of my best clearances to yet.
Born on June 19, 1983, Mark Anthony Selby MBE is a professional snooker player from England. Having held the top spot in the global rankings on several times, he has amassed 22 ranking trophies, which places him ninth on the list of all-time ranking tournament winners. In addition to being the four-time World Snooker Champion, he has also won the UK Championship twice, the Masters three times, and the Triple Crown nine times overall. He is only behind Steve Davis (15), Ronnie O’Sullivan (23), and Stephen Hendry (18) in the rankings.
Selby, at sixteen years old, became a professional in 1999 after winning the 1998 England Under-15 Championship. In 2005, he made his debut at the Crucible, and in 2007, he advanced to his first World Championship final, finishing second behind John Higgins. 2008 saw him win his first major championship at the Masters, and 2008 saw him win his first ranking title at the Welsh Open.
He claimed the World Championship three times in four years, from 2014 to 2017. He rose to the top of the world rankings for the first time in September 2011 and remained there for slightly more than four years, from February 2015 to March 2019. In professional competition, he has amassed more than 800 century breaks, including five maximum breaks—among which, one, is the only one to have occurred during the World Championship final.
