Four-time Crucible champion Selby suffers shock loss

Four-time winner Mark Selby suffered a shock first-round loss at the World Championship as Ben Woollaston secured a superb victory in a late-night Crucible finish.

Woollaston, 37, is ranked 44th in the world and had to win two qualifying matches just to get to the main phase of the tournament for only the second time, after losing in round one in 2013.

Selby held a 5-4 lead after Wednesday’s first session but Woollaston won six of Thursday’s nine frames to claim a 10-8 victory and set up a last-16 tie with 2023 semi-finalist Si Jiahui.

“I didn’t deserve to win,” said Selby afterwards. “Ben played some great stuff, his safety was unbelievable at times but I still had my chances. It was pathetic really from me. To play like that is disappointing.

“It’s the same old story – I try too hard and stop myself from playing. I love Ben to bits, I’ve known him for years. I grew up with him and have seen him progressing.

“To finish off the season like that has put a dampener on the season. My goal going forward is to win more Triple Crown events.”

The match finished at seven minutes past midnight, the latest finish of this year’s tournament so far.

For world number four Selby it is the second successive year that he has lost in round one at the Crucible to a fellow player from Leicester after he was beaten by Joe O’Connor in 2024.

Woollaston called the victory the best of his career, adding: “I got to the final of the Welsh Open and my biggest win was beating [Mark] Williams in Wales and it was packed, but this is bigger.

“I know I’m pretty good tactically, but Mark [Selby] is the best at that. I stayed pretty tough in the safety battles and that’s what won me the match.”

Earlier on Thursday, former champion Luca Brecel completed a fightback from 5-1 down to beat Ryan Day 10-7 and reach the last 16.

Belgium’s Brecel won the last three frames of Wednesday’s first session to trim his early arrears to 5-4, only for Welshman Day, ranked 36th in the world, to make a break of 101 in the opening frame on Thursday and move two clear.

But 2023 world champion Brecel took six of the next seven frames in a scrappy encounter that featured both players making unexpected errors.

One of those mistakes from Day proved crucial when he potted the cue ball when on the black to hand Brecel the 16th frame.

Brecel will face 10th seed Ding Junhui in the next round, with the match starting on Saturday evening before the second session on Sunday and the conclusion on Monday.

Now aged 30, Brecel made his debut at the World Championship as a 17-year-old in 2012. Before his trophy success two years ago, however, he had not won a match at the sport’s most famous venue.

An epic run to glory saw him defeat Ricky Walden, Mark Williams, Ronnie O’Sullivan, Si Jiahui and finally Mark Selby 18-15 in the final to become the first world champion from mainland Europe.

The ‘Crucible Curse’ – often cited for no first-time winner repeating their success the following year – then struck again in 2024 when Brecel suffered a first-day opening-round loss to David Gilbert.

Day, 45, said he had no plans to quit the sport but was frustrated with his efforts.

The three-time Crucible quarter-finalist said: “Even with a 5-1 lead I was looking over my shoulder and not looking forward. I’m just not over-confident and I’m definitely not the player I once was.

“I turn up and play and try. I’ve been doing it a long time so it’s obviously a lot closer to the end than the beginning. I would’ve beaten myself up the way I played if that had been a couple of years ago, but I’ve come to terms with it.

“I still like competing, I just haven’t got the game that I had. As long as I’m on the tour I will still play and make a living out of it. I need to try to do something different [in matches] but I can’t see my game really improving much.”

The first of the last-16 matches began on Thursday afternoon, with two-time semi-finalist Mark Allen falling four frames behind against English qualifier Chris Wakelin.

Wakelin, who defeated 2010 world champion Neil Robertson in round one, secured a 6-2 lead in the best-of-25-frame contest with Allen.

Breaks of 56 and 69 helped Wakelin go 2-0 ahead, before a run of 100 from Allen pulled one back for the Northern Ireland player.

Wakelin ended the session strongly by taking the final three frames, with that match resuming on Friday morning at 10:00 BST and then concluding in the evening session.

Four-time champion John Higgins and China’s 14th seed Xiao Guodong also began their last-16 tie and it was level at 4-4 at the end of the first of three sessions.

Xiao started off with a break of 92, only for runs of 131, 62 and 54 to help Higgins move 3-1 ahead. A break of 114 helped Xiao win the first of three consecutive frames, but Higgins made a 79 in the last frame of the session to leave it level.

The next eight frames in that match will be played from Friday at 14:30 BST.