British Open 2023 snooker as it happened – Mark Selby wins after Mark Williams beats Ding Junhui on Moving Day

What a cruel way to finish it. Gilbert goes for a pot on the black, but it misses and he can only watch on in horror as the white trundles round the table and into the bottom left as Selby wins.

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Gilbert pots the pink, but is not good on the black. He goes for it but overcuts it and we have another safety battle.

Gilbert goes for the double but it hits the jaw of the left middle. It looks sure to be a gift for Selby but amazingly the black comes to his rescue and Selby is in a snooker.

Drama. Pink with the rest for the match for Selby and it stays up. It goes towards the middle, but not pottable so Gilbert plays safe. Pink and black up and all to play for.

Shocking mistake from Gilbert who misses trying to play safe off the yellow and leaves a free ball. Selby knocks in the black as the free ball and drops behind the yellow on the baulk rail. He makes and this is a massive chance.

Gilbert sends down the final red. We're down to the colours but the yellow is safe and Gilbert lays a snooker behind the green.

Mistake from Selby on a long pot, and Gilbert knocks down the penultimate red. But for fans of a rapid resolution, Gilbert knocked the yellow safe. On table 2, Jack Lisowski has fallen over the line to beat Fergal O'Brien 4-2.

Gilbert goes in-off to hand Selby a chance, but a long red wriggles in the jaws and stays out. So close, but there have been plenty like that as this table is tight.

The clock ticks past midnight and we're officially in Friday. Selby and Gilbert still slugging it out.

Barry Hawkins and He Guoqiang are playing a decider at 3-3, while Jack Lisowski leads Fergal O'Brien 3-2.

Selby and Gilbert are exchanging safety shots now with two reds remaining.

Another brief break. Selby did well to cut in a red to the bottom left, but after coming back to the business end by sinking a yellow, he is too straight on a red and cedes the initiative when he misses.

After some scrappy play Selby has to contend with three reds close to the cushion, and another obstructed by the pink.

A missed red allows Selby back in now, but there's going to be some safety as Selby rolls the white off a red and to the top of the table.

Selby misses to the bottom left this time, with a red, and Gilbert has the chance to build a break with no obvious route to a clearance as yet.

A poor miss from Gilbert high up the table leaves Selby with a chance to pot a stray red to the bottom left, but he uses the rest to target one on to the top right.

The green is potentially in the way once the red is sunk, and he avoids it expertly.

That miss was costly for Gilbert as Selby cleans up most of the reds on offer before sending on against the cushion on the middle-right pocket.

That leaves us set for a decider.

Gilbert was set for what seemed to be a dangerous break only to see a black rattle on the bottom left pocket. Selby is back, needing this frame to stay in the match.

Selby misses and Gilbert has the chance to edge ahead. He is deftly moving the ball around the reds and back to the black.

With a break at 37, he drifts up to the blue occasionally and then the pink to sink the remaining reds before missing the pink, and Selby remains seated.

We're having a re-rack now, with both players agreeing this is going nowhere fast. Gilbert breaks off, and Selby has the chance to build a break with maybe five or six reds handily placed.

Dave gets in and slams into the cluster .. only to find he's on the cube root of nowt. And look at that! Mark creams a starter to left corner, it makes a glorious sound, and he starts potting balls ... then misses a simple red! His level's dropped just a bit these last two frames.

Ma Hailong 1-4 Fan Zhengyi

Barry Hawkins 1-2 He Guoqiang

Jack Lisowski 2-2 Fergal O'Brien

Dave gets pink and black for 2-2! Somehow, we're level and it's now a best of three!

Ach, Dave misses a cut to right corner ... and Mark devastates a long pot of his own into the same bag. That's very good indeed and the blue is over left-middle, but the pink is on the side rail next to the yellow bag; getting it down won't be easy, especially with these pockets. Huge shot coming up ... and he misses it! He hit it nicely, it looked to be going in off the top knuckle ... but it stayed out! Dave needs pink and black for 2-2!

Brown and pink are both close to the yellow bag and Dave can't move the latter in a way that lets him pot the former. So he sticks the white close to the baulk rail and the brown near the top, who pots it likely to win the frame.

Dave gets in and out ... then Mark misses a blue he was certain was in! What a let-off for Dave, who will again try to clear up!

An excellent positional shot takes Dave from blue to red, but he can't slide pink to left-centre, and Mark's on one to the yellow bag. But again, he catches the near jaw and the ball won't drop.

Mark traps Dave behind the yellow, he misses with his escape, and leaves a red ... that Mark jawses! The pockets are, apparently a little tighter than usual - anything that hits the near jaw stays out - so Dave has a shy at liberating the frame from Selbz's grasp.

Mark pulls the white down the table ... and into the green bag. So Dave gets himself away and though he's reds to break up, this is a pretty decent chance to get back in the frame - at least. But he misses a red by a way, spreads that cluster, and this really should be 3-1.

Again, Dave goes hard at one, and when he misses a double-kiss ruins him. Mark gets away, and very quickly racks up a useful lead. When he tries to break the pack, though, not much happens, so he pins the white to the bottom rail.

Ma Hailong 1-2 Fan Zhengyi

Barry Hawkins 0-1 He Guoqiang

Jack Lisowski 1-2 Fergal O'Brien

Mark misses a blue but the frame is long since his. Dave must, you feel, win the next, because the chances of him taking three straight seem remote.

Not for long. Mark gets in again and sets about making the frame safe.

But he can't finish the frame missing a red that Dave opts not to pursue. There are 75 points on the table.

A laying down the smack frame is exactly what Dave doesn't need, a reminder that he has almost no margin for error. But Mark doesn't look like missing ... until a loose positional shot means he's to take one on from above the blue and into the green; he absolutely nails it.

Yup, Dave isn't waiting to be asked; if he's going for one he's committing to one, and he unloads the suitcase at a starter, misses, and hands mark a chance. But a poor shot off a black to middle leaves him without a red - that's careless - so he cuts one dead acute to right-middle, brilliant shot. And have a look! He drops in a cut-back, just, and he's in good shape now.

Ma Hailong 1-2 Fan Zhengyi

Barry Hawkins 0-0 He Guoqiang

Jack Lisowski 0-2 Fergal O'Brien

Dave misses a red to left corner, it shoots along the rail and drops in the right. He does miss the brown, but not before he's reached three figures, and if he can maintain that level, we're in for a treat.

A confidence-builder, this run - he's been in position pretty much throughout - and there's a ton in the offing.

Dave works a decent opportunity for himself but finds that he pots the pink, it'll go directly under the black which is on its spot. He doesn't think he can bag one while moving the other, so he just gets it down and screws up for blue. He's cueing nicely.

Off Mark's break, Dave lamps a starter right into the heart of left corner. Perhaps he's decided he's to take it to Mark and as I type, he splatters the bunch, leaving claret all over but pink and black compromised.

Ali Carter 2-4 Xiao Guodong

Ma Hailong 1-2 Fan Zhengyi

Barry Hawkins 0-0 He Guoqiang

Jack Lisowski 0-1 Fergal O'Brien

Mark carries on where he left off and i wonder if Dave believes he can win this.

Mark knows he's playing well - he's taking on everything that there for him, and knocking them in emphatically. This is going to be 1-0.

And, very quickly, he wriggles one into left-centre and I've a feeling if he gets on top early, he might win easy.

But the pack gives him nae love when he splits it, so it's tight to the top cushion in a bit to eke out the next opportunity.

The way Mark played this afternoon, he's a big favourite tonight, given he's also by far the better player - good though Dave is. And after the Angry Farmer spurns an early opportunity, missing a red, Selbz gets away with a lovely pot and looks ready to do damage.

Mark Selby v Dave Gilbert

Four frames in a row for Mark, who misses a red on 99, but he won't mind that. He's still so good.

Mark won't twitch with the line in sight, you wouldn't think, and even if he does, you'd not back Ding to capitalise. But he now has to tuck in behind a red to send it along the top rail ... and he does it very nicely, the deadest of weight. This is over.

You've got to strongly favour Mark now, and it's for insight like that I'm paid the big bucks. He gets in first in frame six, picking at loose reds, and though he'll need to break a cluster of reds at some point, there's no reason to think he won't do it well - and he doesn't - so this might be the match.

Ali Carter 2-3 Xiao Guodong

Graeme Dott 2-4 Hossein Vafaei

Ma Hailong 0-0 Fan Zhengyi

Mark drains a red and finally, Ding stays in his seat. Three in a row for TWPM.

Another red to Mark, then Ding escapes a snooker superbly, Mark sends down a further red, and given where the balls are, yellow and green safe, two reds safe, this frame is over really.

Just when you think it's end of frame, Mark drags the white onto the side; he pots a difficult blue, then smashes a glorious red from centre to right corner. After that, it's green on the cushion, not a risky pink, and Ding has a lot of work to do.

Mark looks all set to punish; he's spent most of his life punishing Ding's exact infraction.

Mark floats in a starter from centre to left but it yields him just one, then he miscues and the ref calls foul early ... aha, he flicked the brown. So Ding glides a starter into right corner and there are points to be had here ... then he misses the black, and he's fading here.

Ali Carter 1-3 Xiao Guodong

Graeme Dott 2-2 Hossein Vafaei

Tom Ford 4-1 Scott Donaldson

Ding eventually concedes when a lovely yellow means he needs four snookers.

Mark lays a snooker but Ding uses it to land him in a better one, white stuck to blue on the bottom rail, red further along it. He misses, which means Ding can make it 3-1 by clearing up - needing pink or black with the remaining red. A poor shot, though, allows Mark to cut deftly to right-middle, and he's home now.

Mark clears to the last red meaning Ding returns to the table needing a snooker.

Mark misses when trying to send a red long to the corner but a miss from Ding lets him in and he'll surely finish the frame from here. Ding's played the better stuff, but the arch competitor isn't easily dominated.

Apologies, my system crashed, but Mark gets in early only to miss a red; Ding narrows the gap and, with six reds left, this frame is anyone's.

Ding will have known he wasn't winning this 4-0, and he isn't.

However! Mark misses a red and Ding has a chance to steal! Nothing's that hard, but at this stage of a frame everything's hard, and he can't get down a pink for which you expect him to account. Mark returns to the table needing one more ball to secure the frame ... and there is is, a thin cut to left-middle.

Mark drifts in a delicate red, taken from centre to left corner, and he'll want to finish this frame here. A fabulous pink to left corner gives him a good chance of so doing, and all the balls he needs are in play.

Ding plays a fine shot to stick Mark J behind the brown and he spends a while working out what to do ... before playing a tremendous escape, hitting his selected red final roll.

But on 25 he runs into problems and allows Ding to the table. He sinks a red then tries for the black to the side without really thinking he'll get it, the white left close to the top rail, and we're back playing safety.

Sending a red long to the yellow bag, Ding leaves it in the jaws and Mark could use this. He quickly works his way onto the black, feathering it down with a lovely touch and via spider; a plant follows, and what a player this man is.

Ali Carter 0-1 Xiao Guodong

Graeme Dott 1-1 Hossein Vafaei

Tom Ford 1-0 Scott Donaldson

Not much i love more in snooker than Ding playing well. Ding's playing well.

Ding despatches a gorgeous black, takes the white all the way around the angles, and takes out the last red. Another ton break, and he's going to take some stopping tonight.

Ding overruns on a pink but redeems the situation with a fine next red, the frame within his grasp. Mark needs to get himself going, because his opponent is on a roll.

Ding sinks a starter but has to play safe thereafter; Mark takes on a pot, misses by a way and is saved by a double kiss - not words said often. But he's soon under it again, Ding inciting a couple of fouls, getting in off the back of them, and quickly getting himself about the reds, nicely spread with the black in play. Though he's been playing roughly 10 years less, he's scored more centuries than Mark has, and there are few I'd back more heavily to clear up from here.

Ali Carter 0-0 Xiao Guodong

Graeme Dott 0-1 Hossein Vafaei

Tom Ford 0-0 Scott Donaldson

Ding polishes off, and this has the makings of a good match.

But he doesn't, overrunning too concerned about where the white was going and leaving the next red in the jaws.

Or not! He runs out of position, Mark slams down a starter off his safety, and the steal is on! Mark needs high-value colours, but there's no reason to think he won't take them.

Ding draws a gorgeous red into left-middle, bumps the cluster off a pink and the frame should be his from here.

Mark gets close to a long one - so close it bounces out of the jaws and stays; Ding gets himself away and there are red/blacks to be had here - though after four he comes down for the blue. He's looking good here.

With my nine-year-old baking a cake and listening to banging tunes in my immediate vicinity. Snooker and amapiano can run.

We begin tonight as per the below, with Mark J Williams v Ding Junhui, and we now know that our second match is David Gilbert v Mark Selby - both for a place in the last eight.

Join me again this evening; we'll begin with Mark J Williams v Ding Junhui.

Jack Lisowski 4-2 Matt Selt

Tom Ford 4-0 Jimmy Robertson

Fan Zhengyi 1-1 Rod Lawler

It's been a hosing, has this. Mark just wouldn't let Si into the match, finishes with a 110, and there we go!

Mark's made this look very easy, and it isn't. His cue-ball control, in particular, has been excellent - he's not blazed home pots really, he's just slotted pretty much everything he should. He's one to avoid in the draw for the last 16, but he's a ton to hunt before then.

Oh dear. Si leaves one over the jaws of left corner and Mark gets away off another, quickly moving up to the business end where the black goes to both corners. This reeks of over.

Jack Lisowski 3-2 Matt Selt

Tom Ford 3-0 Jimmy Robertson

Fan Zhengyi 1-0 Rod Lawler

Si needs three straight if he's to stay in the competition. Good luck, old mate.

Mark has totally dominated this match and will think he should be 3-0 up. He's looked terrific in both balls and exchanges, barely giving Si a sniff. I can't see how he loses from here.

Mark nails a long pot - he's five out of five on those - breaks the pack, and the balls are nicely spread, if a little proximate. But have a look! he oozes a pink to right corner, takes the white around the table, breaks the pack and looks in decent shape.

Jack Lisowski 3-1 Matt Selt

Tom Ford 2-0 Jimmy Robertson

Fan Zhengyi 1-0 Rod Lawler

We got ourselves a ball-game.

More like it from Si, a pink rocketed and red stroked into left corner. He's on the board.

But now it's Mark missing when he shouldn't, a black off its spot, so Si has another go at yanking himself into the match.

Oh, Si! He overcuts a simple red to left corner, and if Mark can clear here he'll feel he's broken the back of this match. There are a fair few balls near the side rail, but they're not stuck on and, as Stephen notes, you can't miss easy balls against him and expect to win.

Si gets in again, though, and given chances he will score. I'm sure he's fazed by neither opponent nor occasion, he just hasn't started well and he's playing a man who did. He should, though clinch the frame at this visit.

Si fouls and we're a while having the balls replaced, then Mark downs a red and sinks a really good blue - so far this season he's only lost to eventual tournament winners and he looks so confident. But the he goes in-off, so can see, who's had very little table-time so far, make something happen? Er, not really. he runs out of position to plays safe, and so far he's not found anything like the form that saw him beat Neil Robertson.

Mark looks in total control, but if Si gets going - and it won't take much - he's still a threat here.

Jack Lisowski 2-1 Matt Selt

Tom Ford 1-0 Jimmy Robertson

Fan Zhengyi 0-0 Rod Lawler

Si plays two poor positional shots in a row, missing a fine cut by a way; he didn't look ready for that visit having presumably thought the frame was gone and should learn from that. Really, he can't fail to because Mark immediately gets in and is now making the frame safe.

Mark's navigated this run really well, never having to play an unplanned shot. There's no reason to think this isn't 2-0 and of course, as I type that, he loses focus on a pot, missing a simple black. Can Si make something of it?

This time Mark gets in right away and he must be feeling good because he quickly opens the pack. He's threatening to blow Si away here and in comms, Stephen's rhapsodising how well he hits the ball.

Robbie Williams 1-4 Scott Donaldson

Jack Lisowski 2-0 Matt Selt

Tom Ford 0-0 Jimmy Robertson

Fan Zhengyi 0-0 Rod Lawler

Mark played well there. It's always lovely to see that.

As Stephen notes in co-comms, when you combine the best safety game around with heavy scoring, you've got someone anyone has to play well to beat, and Mark's looking very good. Si's got some thinking to do.

Si won;t have wanted a tactical battle but Mark dragged him into one, won it, and is now at the table taking advantage. It's still far from simple, but if he removes the right balls in the right order, there's a decent break there.

A slow start, Mark foul-missing thrice the highlight of the action. But the table is a bit messy, a fair few reds near each other and black cush, so we may be here a while.

Mark Selby v Si Jiahui

Dave Gilbert 4-1 Ishpreet Chadha

Robbie Williams 1-3 Scott Donaldson

Xiao Guodong 4-1 Sanderson Lam

Twelve on the spin for Bazza, who played well enough. Kyren, though, will feel he gave that away, and he certainly had chances to make it a very different match. Both these look set for really good seasons.

Barry calmly removes the easy balls and won't need the two reds near the side cushion. He will, though, have to break a bunch of four under the pink; if it goes well, curtains. And hear it comes, off the black; it's not great, but it should be enough. There are 75 points left on the table ... Baz glances in an acute red to right-middle ... and this is as good as over.

Oh Kyren. He probably hasn't quite recovered from the miss that allowed Barry make 2-1, and he misses the kind of long pot he was guzzling down earlier, leaving plenty. He'll be feart he's not getting back to the table.

Dave Gilbert 3-1 Ishpreet Chadha

Robbie Williams 0-3 Scott Donaldson

Xiao Guodong 3-1 Sanderson Lam

Baz must be feeling invincible at the moment, things are just working for him. He needs one of the next three to progress.

Kyren is raging with himself, a poor blue meaning he's not on either of the two remaining reds. He plays safe off the brown but Baz sinks a starter then, forcing his man to escape a snooker, he's left a dolly. The Hawk is going two up with three to play!

There's more than enough to get going. But then on 50, he misses a red to left-middle, Kyren tidies it up, and the frame is still in the balance. The remaining six reds, though, are clustered under the pink, so will need some work ... and as I type, he breaks them up, the pot wobbling but going down, the pack spreading nicely. The snooker gods are back with him, and this is a good chance to steal back his frame.

Kyren might well be ruminating over that miss because he misses a starter and leaves Barry a chance. There's not loads to go on, but there's enough to get going.

Dave Gilbert 3-0 Ishpreet Chadha

Robbie Williams 0-2 Scott Donaldson

Xiao Guodong 2-1 Sanderson Lam

Barry coaxes in 45, clearing all the balls, and Kyren will be feeling exceedingly peaky.

Kyren gets in again when Barry misses only to miss an absolute sitter of a frame-ball, cut-back along the top rail but catching the near knuckle! It stays in the jaws, and Barry really should punish him from here...

Barry misses the pink and intimates a kick - there was no visual evidence but he'll know if he got a bad contact - so Kyren comes to the table with the chance to move back in front. But he can't get onto a red off the pink, so has to play safe - which he does well.

But again gets little joy breaking the pack, so he takes on a risky plant and doesn't get that close. Still though, it's a stroke because when he opted to take the shot on, it looked inevitable if he missed he'd leave plenty, but in the event he leaves nowt. However next go, he hands Barry an opportunity and the way the balls are, this is a chance to take control of the frame.

Kyren clunks a monster of a starter to left corner - he's so good from distance - then takes on a taxing yellow and brings himself up to the business end, black available and various reds open. He's playing really well.

Dave Gilbert 2-0 Ishpreet Chadha

Robbie Williams 0-1 Scott Donaldson

Xiao Guodong 1-1 Sanderson Lam

Century 431 of Barry's career, a 114, and this match is simmering nicely.

Baz tucks in. He's into this match now.

Left without viable alternative following baz's best shot of the match so far, Kyren takes on a longun, steering towards right corner ... and he gets so close. So close he leaves it and everything else; this should be 1-1.

Dave Gilbert 2-0 Ishpreet Chadha

Robbie Williams 0-1 Scott Donaldson

Xiao Guodong 1-1 Sanderson Lam

Barry leaves one which Kyren takes, but then he misses a blue to the green and, when Baz can only manage five and a poor safety, a snooker behind the blue yields another opportunity. But when he goes into the pack he gets no love, so it's back to baulk and off we go again.

Dave Gilbert 1-0 Ishpreet Chadha

Robbie Williams 0-1 Scott Donaldson

Xiao Guodong 0-1 Sanderson Lam

Yup, Kyrizzle secures the frame and looks good. Baz will have to play well to beat him here.

Nope, he runs out of position and plays safe ... but soon bangs down a starter, then a plant declutters the business end meaning this is a decent chance to go in front.

Kyren glances a starter to left-centre, lovely shot, and the pink is now available with the reds broken below it. This isn't an easy clear-up and cue-ball control hasn't been his best attribute, but if he can remove balls in the right order, he's got a good chance of resolving this.

Rishi Persad said this match should be tight, but I'd say close is a better word; with both men playing so well, there will be breaks, as Daniel Plainview almost said. Bazza has won 11 matches straight and might be in the form of his life and he's in first here, Kyren going hard at one and missing by a little. He gets cover, but when he makes a second error he leaves a chance ... which only costs him eight, Baz missing to right corner. We're back playing safety and, with pink and black tied up, this frame might take a while to unravel.

We begin the afternoon with Barry Hawkins v Kyren Wilson, two lovely boys and brilliant players in fine form. After which, Si Jiahui, the world semi-finalist, meets Mark Selby, four-time world champion, before, this evening, Mark J Williams takes on Ding Junhui, after which two earlier winners will face-off.

And welcome to the British Open 2023 - moving day!

Ronnie O'Sullivan will head into the English Open before his home crowd in Essex as world No. 1 (live on Eurosport and discovery+) after UK champion Mark Allen lost 4-0 to Kyren Wilson in the British Open last 32 on Wednesday.

Allen needed to claim the £100,000 first prize on Sunday night to topple O'Sullivan from the summit of the rankings, but crashed out in the third round as breaks of 112 and 121 helped Wilson set up a last-16 meeting with Barry Hawkins on Thursday afternoon.

Allen scored only one point in the first three frames, and a knock of 54 in the fourth was not enough to prevent the whitewash.

World champion and the sport's No. 2 player Luca Brecel is only 5,000 points behind O'Sullivan in the latest rankings, while Allen remains 45,500 points off top spot in third place.

O'Sullivan withdrew from the tournament on medical grounds after edging out Brecel 11-9 to win the Shanghai Masters last week.

Meanwhile, defending British Open champion Ryan Day – who defeated Allen 10-7 in last year's final – is out of the competition after losing 4-2 to German Masters holder Ali Carter just before midnight on Wednesday evening.

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