British Open 2023 snooker LIVE – Mark Selby locks horns with Mark Williams in tasty final between legends
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Updated 01/10/2023 at 23:09 GMT
Welcome to Eurosport's live text coverage of the 2023 British Open final from the Centaur at Cheltenham Racecourse. It is time for the top-billed showpiece on Sunday afternoon and evening. Yesterday, Mark Williams defeated Hossein Vafaei in the afternoon session, before Mark Selby cruised past Xiao Guodong in the evening. As such, it will be Williams against Selby for glory today.
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That'll do us
The 2023 British Open ends with a memorable victory for The Welsh Potting Machine. We'll be back with you soon - tomorrow, in fact - as the English Open gets going in Brentwood.
Be well out there, night night.
The lift
Williams gets the trophy, and a cheque for 100 large. What a moment for him; he's now completed a hat-trick of British Open titles. And make no mistake, he earned that one; when his lead went from 8-5 to 8-7 it looked like Selby might be about to haul him in. Class is permanent though, and those magic hands of his found two brilliant, frame-clinching breaks to get it sorted. Overall today he's plugged breaks of 110, 55, 74, 133 and 69, while nicking frames he had no right to off arguably the greatest grafter the baize has seen. Hats off to Williams; he's a fan of an early hours kebab and I hope he can source one in Cheltenham for his tea.
Player talk
Selby is as gracious as ever in defeat, joshing that he'd been taught to look after his elders and has done so today. Williams calls it one of his best ever wins, over a player he considers the third greatest of all time. Mutual appreciation all around here, which is fitting after such a contest.
Mark Williams wins the British Open
Oh my days, what a pair of clearances there from Williams to take the final two frames and the title. He's been in front since the first frame, but just couldn't definitively pull away from Selby - until the very end, when two brilliant dishes under pressure from Williams won the day just as it looked like it might be snatched from him. Stand up both players, but particularly Williams, because that was magnificent.
Selby 7-10 Williams
Incredible stuff in Cheltenham as Williams pops blue in left middle, pink in right middle and screws back for the black. It's just off straight, and is soon deposited into the bottom right! MARK WILLIAMS HAS COMPLETED A SENSATIONAL BRITISH OPEN VICTORY!
Selby 7-9 Williams (54-41)
Oh wow, this is incredible. Williams takes the black as a free ball, the pink, the final red with a yellow and he's on the colours; he needs them all for a stunning victory, and only the blue is off its spot. He's on the blue now, three balls to go...
Selby 7-9 Williams (54-22)
Williams does well to get two reds and blacks down, but can't quite manage to lay a snooker on the final red. he gets it a few shots later though, with the white on the bottom cushion and the red in baulk. Selby plays off one cushion, and oh my word - he's gone around the back of the red, missed it and left a free ball! Williams can win the title right here and now!
Selby 7-9 Williams (54-2)
Selby duly pushes in front in the frame, far enough to leave Williams needing a snooker, but can't get on any of the final three safe reds to put it properly to bed. Williams will continue, but has it all to do.
Selby 7-9 Williams (44-2)
Ooh, how big could this be? Selby takes on a cut on pink to right middle, but gets under it too much and misses it on the high knuckle. Williams gets a red down, but is left with a tough double on the pink to keep it going. It's close, but it misses; that will surely hand the frame to Selby from here.
Selby 7-9 Williams (23-1)
What a dish under pressure that was. Williams's demeanour is perfect for those moments, he's spent a lifetime casually dishing up as if pressure is just something that only affects others. Speaking of a player perfect for big moments, Selby won't be phased here by needing to sweep the last three to win, and will no doubt put frame 16 out of his mind quick smart.
Williams glides a red in long to start frame 17, but glides past the baulk line so its end of break. A few shots later he misses a red to the bottom right, and it's a chance for Selby. Within a few shots he's up to 23 in the break, with the pack open and loose reds all over. Yep, that'll be frame 16 put out of his mind, then.
Selby 7-9 Williams
Williams makes hearts flutter a little more when he lands low on frame ball pink. Can he cut it in to go within one of the title? Course he can! Williams drains the pink, and what a visit that was!
Selby 7-8 Williams (56-49)
We know Selby can dig in when needed, but it's equally true of Williams (clue: see the last 31 years). The reds are disappearing one by one, and there are 'oohs' when he furiously wobbles a black in the jaws of the bottom right before dropping. Pretty soon all the reds are gone; he's up for the colours now, and he's odds on for one of the greatest and potentially most important steals of his career.
Selby 7-8 Williams (56-1)
It's another touch for Williams, as Selby makes a hash of a cannon on a group of reds and fails to land on one. Back to baulk he goes, and Williams returns 56 in the hole but with a very dangerous table to go at if he can get in. Here's his chance, as Selby shorts a safety and leaves a hand-on-table look at a red to bottom left. Williams drains it, and what a test of moxie this visit is now.
Selby 7-8 Williams (40-0)
Well now, is this a twist? Using the cue extension and stretching, Selby misses a red across the table to the bottom right and leaves it. Williams, who is a bit cold at the table right now, can't convert the stray red though, and it's a let-off for Selby. The momentum seems to be going against Williams now though; an outlandish attempt to cross-double a red to the left-middle fails to go in, and the white runs into the pack to hand an easy starter to Selby.
Selby 7-8 Williams (28-0)
Williams misses a thin contact safety at the start of frame 16, giving away four. Selby then gets in with a long red and a crunching green, and he's crafted a chance for himself here. Back in May, Luca Brecel told us that it was a nightmare having Selby chip away at your lead in a final; it's a nightmare Williams is living in right now, as Selby opens the pack and moves to 28 in this break.
Selby 7-8 Williams
A total of 68 from Selby, the first sizeable break for a while, reduces the gap to one again.
Selby 6-8 Williams (66-0)
As steady as you like, Selby drops on frame ball red after dispatching the blue. He tags it into the bottom right, and we have got a very live argument in this British Open final. What a competitor Selby is.
Selby 6-8 Williams (39-0)
Selby's back in with a long red to the yellow pocket, holding for the pink. Can he make this stick? Selby loses position early, finishing so low on the black that he leaves himself a brutal cut, blind to the bottom right, to keep going. He takes it on. 'Get in!' cries someone in the crowd as it trickles to the pocket, and get in it does; the white also flowers open a group of reds at the same time. That's a wonderful, gutsy shot, and it might win him the frame.
Selby 6-8 Williams (13-0)
Whatever next! Frame 15 opens with Williams coming within millimetres of draining a long red to the bottom right; I don't quite know how that didn't drop, as it looked certain to go in. a few shots later he misses another to the same pocket trying to hold for the black, and he's served up a chance. Selby plugs a red to left middle, and he's away. The chance only yields 13 though, as he fails to get a cannon on one red to land on another, and it's end of break.
Selby 6-8 Williams
Selby takes red, pink and then up to the pink, to bring this grind of a frame to a conclusion.
Selby 5-8 Williams (55-36)
We're back, and my oh my - it's a lapse in concentration from Williams, who misses a thin contact on the red and catches it on the way back up from the bottom cushion, nudging it over the left middle. Selby takes red and black, but has no angle on the black to get on the final safe red. A snooker follows instead, and Williams is under it now. He escapes, but leaves the red on to right middle and that should be it.
Selby 5-8 Williams (47-36)
There really is very little to say on current events, as both players continue to move the three reds around the table and keep them safe. The deadlock is finally broken when Williams cross-doubles a red; he then goes for a thin cut back on a black to bottom left, which is so close but it hangs in the jaws and stays there. The other two reds are covered, so he's got away with one there. The black blocking the pocket has really upped the jeopardy now, as we tick towards 45 minutes for the frame. Surely they won't re-rack it? I think Williams suggested it, half-joking, and both Marks have a chuckle. Williams needs the loo, and disappears from the arena so we'll have a quick pause at this crucial juncture.
Selby 5-8 Williams (47-35)
Selby has Williams in knots here, and forces another eight points in fouls after an adroit snooker. All three reds are now in baulk, and there's a definite sense that these nine balls might go a long way to deciding the outcome here. There hasn't been a sniff of a pot for around ten minutes now.
Selby 5-8 Williams (39-35)
A tremendous pot on a red as a shot to nothing by Williams takes us down to three reds. A few shots later Williams shorts another deadweight containing safety, giving away four, as this tense frame drifts over the 30 minute mark. There's a real impasse here on these final three reds.
Selby 5-8 Williams (35-34)
Wow Selby gets a slice here, as a made plant on two reds wobbles furiously, and seems to stay up before slowly tipping over the edge and dropping in. Giggles ensue when Selby then gestures at Williams to remain in his seat. The break reaches 30, but Selby can't force one of the four remaining, tied up reds into a potting position and is forced to play the white back to baulk.
Selby 5-8 Williams (5-34)
Williams gets a red down, wriggled in to the bottom left, and he's got an angle on the green. Can he make something significant here? It'll be some effort given the state of the reds, nine of which are clustered below or around the black. Williams picks off 33, before missing a long red to the yellow pocket. He's left it too; can Selby respond?
Selby 5-8 Williams (5-1)
Selby booms a red in to open frame 14, but he's not on a colour. A long safety exchange follows and Williams gives away four when he shorts a containing one, but there's very little for either player to go at here. Williams flukes a three ball plant but doesn't land on a colour, and I think we could be in for another long one here.
Selby 5-8 Williams
It's 28 more points from Williams to put the frame safely to bed, and he now leads by three.
Selby 5-7 Williams (0-63)
Williams gets a look at a red to bottom right from the D. He absolutely middles it, and he's back in prime position to take the frame. On 19 though he plays a stinker, underhitting the black and leaving a wafer thin cut on a red to the bottom right. Williams takes it on, of course, but catches the red so thin that he overcuts it and leaves it hanging. Fate chucks him a bone though, because he's covered the red with the blue; Selby tries to swerve the blue and snick it in but misses, giving away four and leaving the pot on. Williams will be exhaling there, he's been a lucky lad.
Selby 5-7 Williams (0-40)
Two poor shots in a row here from Williams have nixed his break on 40. His first error was plain-balling a red into the left middle, which forced him to clunk into the blue; he then mistimed the blue into the yellow pocket with the rest, meaning he didn't land on his next red. That will vex even a man with his laid back demeanour, because that was a good chance to take the frame out in one hit.
Selby 5-7 Williams (0-26)
An up-table safety exchange starts the frame, and is ended when Williams takes a punt on a red to left middle and nails it. A few shots later a canny run into the bunch off the blue frees up a few more reds, and this is slowly developing into a very good chance indeed. Williams is swiftly up to 26, with the black on to both corners and a loosely bunched pack that can be manipulated.
We're back
Frame 13 incoming, sit tight.
Selby 5-7 Williams
Yeah, that's big. Williams empties the table, and it's as you were; he leads Selby by two frames in this final.
There's plenty left in this I'd wager, join us again in 15 minutes for the decisive frames.
Selby 5-6 Williams (51-70)
Selby needs two efforts to drop deadweight on the red, giving away four. Williams then forces an error a few shots later, as Selby leaves the red over the bottom left and a path to it. The red disappears, followed by the brown; yellow and green here will leave Selby needing a snooker.
Selby 5-6 Williams (51-61)
Williams gets away with it, as Selby lands on the wrong side of the black to get on the final red on the bottom cushion. A snooker follows instead, and again it's brutal, the white in behind the black and the red in baulk. Williams needs three efforts to escape and, when he does so, flukes a snooker of his own in return. This game, eh? What a huge seven balls these are.
Selby 5-6 Williams (35-61)
It's advantage Williams again, as he edges the safety exchange and converts a loose red into the bottom right. From here he should mop up what's need to win the frame, but a nervy black leaves a tough red to follow, running into others to force position, and he misses it. With five reds still out there it's a chance for Selby, and he starts stitching together what could be a crucial break. It needs a good recovery red to keep going early, but he's in position now and nothing is safe here.
Selby 5-6 Williams (17-45)
Selby gets a chance here, as Williams catches a red on his way back up the table from a safety and leaves it on over the green pocket. It's duly dispatched by Selby but not cleanly, and he's not on a good line for a colour. Instead of a pot he tucks Williams in tight behind the pink in baulk, a vicious snooker that draws 16 in fouls before Williams nails his two cushion escape.
Selby 5-6 Williams (0-45)
On 44 Williams leaves himself hampered, and having to bridge high over a red to cut another into the bottom left. He's clattered the pot in, but the cue ball goes out of control and into the pack. There's a risky green on, but Williams hedges his bets and plays safe to baulk.
Selby 5-6 Williams (0-23)
My days, what a shot this is. From up near the jaws of the yellow pocket, Williams floats a stunning red into the bottom right and comes off two cushions to land on the black. Chapeau! He's into the pack quickly thereafter, and is on a thin red to bottom left. That goes, so does the blue, and from nothing he's crafted a potentially frame-winning chance.
Selby 5-6 Williams
Williams goes in-off, and concedes the frame; Selby is within one again.
Selby 4-6 Williams (69-30)
It's another poor one from Williams, missing a red along the bottom cushion and leaving it in the jaws of the bottom right. Selby picks it off, followed by the blue; Williams now needs snookers, effectively two of them as the pink and black are welded together near the bottom left.
Selby 4-6 Williams (63-30)
Oof, a bad one here from Williams. Selby misses a red to bottom left and leaves it hanging there; Williams drains it, but makes a hash of the pink with the rest to follow and he's handed the initiative back to Selby after working so hard to get back into the frame. Hello though, what's this? In trying to nudge frame ball red into play Selby misses the black off its spot! Crikey.
Selby 4-6 Williams (54-29)
Selby gets back in for a quick red-blue combo, but can't force position on one of the six remaining reds. He puts another one safe, and it's a tough task from here for Williams. He'll have a shy though, as he drills a long red almost the length of the left rail and into the bottom left, and then dumps Selby in a brutal snooker behind the black in baulk. It's a four cushion escape to hit a red near the pink on the bottom cushion; Selby misses the target five times, shipping 28 valuable points in the process. At the sixth attempt he finally connects with the red, to big cheers.
Selby 4-6 Williams (48-0)
This break is so precise, and it needs to be; with the black potted and rehoused on the brown sport, Selby is having to force the cue ball top side of the blue each time. He eventually runs out of position on 48, and opts to put a red safe.
Selby 4-6 Williams (25-0)
Williams has a go at a long red to bottom right to start frame 11, but it rattles out and hops over the bottom left. Selby can see a path to it, and booms it in to go up for the blue. It's something of a chance but the white will have to do a lot of mileage here, as the black is tied up and pink is soon spotted next to it, with the pink sport currently covered by reds.
Selby 4-6 Williams
Selby gets the black into play, and then pots a red to bottom left. He can't pot a tough pink thereafter though, and concedes the frame immediately.
Selby 4-5 Williams (0-66)
Williams lands bullet straight on the pink, which he pots but it leaves him only a double at frame ball red. He's missed it of the low knuckle of the right middle, and Selby is just about still in this with 67 left out there. The black is in the top half of the table and four of the remaining reds are near cushions; yet, as Williams and all of us know, Selby would wait until the New Year and beyond for a chance while the frame can still be won.
Selby 4-5 Williams (0-52)
Some high quality safety shots follow, before Selby catches the high knuckle of the right middle with the white and leaves a long-ish red to the bottom left. Williams goes for it, and gets it; there's a load in the open for him now, enough to put the frame away. He's added 27 already.
Selby 4-5 Williams (0-25)
Back comes Williams. Selby's first shot of the frame is to miss a thin contact safety and give away four; that leaves Williams a hand-on-table chance at a red to bottom left, and he crunches it in. He's soon up and running on his break, but on 21 he tries to go into the pack off the bottom cushion after potting the black, but he misses the black and it's end of break.
Selby 4-5 Williams
The red-colour-red disappears to put the frame to bed, but Selby isn't done. He coasts around the table picking off everything in sight, and registers a superb 112 to draw within a frame of Williams.
Selby 3-5 Williams (53-6)
It's a calm, methodical half-century from Selby as the pink disappears into the right middle. There are five reds left out there, so red-colour-red will do it. Selby finished the afternoon strongly, and he's started the evening in the same form.
Selby 3-5 Williams (18-6)
What a shot from Williams! Selby plays a containing safety to baulk, but leaves a path to a red to right middle. It's such a tight angle for the cut, the shot needs to be perfect; Williams does find the perfect angle, sending the red in as clean as a whistle. He's on the brown and it's a huge chance, but goes awry when he fails to get on the black a few shots later and misses a tough green into the left middle. Selby steps in instead, and starts punishing that mistake.
Selby 3-5 Williams (0-0)
The opening frame of the night starts with a volley of up-table safety, and the table becomes dangerous very quickly indeed. Nearly eight minutes go by without a pot, before Selby makes the first mistake when he cannons full ball into the brown when playing a containing safety. Mark can't convert a red from distance thereafter, but doesn't leave anything. This is edgy, because whoever gets in first should win the frame with these balls as they are.
Let's go
Our MC Tahir Hajat baizes the players. We could have five, we might get 11; let's see how it all shakes down.
Tonight, tonight
The aim for Selby is simple here - win this little stanza of four, and then all bets are off after the interval. Even splitting it would be fine, but what he surely can't afford to do is lose it. Williams has taken the row straight to Selby today, and the equation for him is simple; pedal to the metal, keep going.
We go again
Welcome back to this arm wrestle between the two Marks here in Cheltenham. Williams leads Selby 5-3, and it could have been a lot worse for Selby who trailed by four at one stage this afternoon. As it is, there's only two in it and this upcoming mini-session of four will be crucial to deciding the outcome.
That's where we're at, and the boys will be back on the baize shortly.
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That's us for the afternoon
Join us again from 6.45pm BST to see how this one plays out.
Mark Williams leads the British Open final
Well, wasn't that absorbing. Mark Williams won an elongated opening frame to get in front, and he's been there ever since. At 5-1 there was the danger of Mark Selby leaving himself too much to do tonight, but two solid breaks to snag the final two frames of the day means that he trails by just two ahead of the denouement tonight. Don't be surprised if we're Shredsville bound for the conclusion of this one.
Selby 3-5 Williams
It's a 73 in total for Selby, who takes the last two to set up an intriguing evening session.
Selby 2-5 Williams (71-0)
There's no quit in this lad. A perfectly judged cannon into three reds above the black makes the frame look a formality from here, and Selby's arm is moving smoothly through the white once more. I doubt we'll get a ton here, but Selby has really located his scoring touch in the last few frames. Frame ball blue takes him to 64, and Williams now needs a snooker. He can forget it though, because Selby drains a superb red long to the yellow pocket to end the argument in this frame.
Selby 2-5 Williams (41-0)
Both players miss attempts at reds, before Selby gets back in. This chance looks like it'll be more adhesive, as he clears some room around the black spot by picking off loose reds. It's 35 and counting already, and with five more central reds to go at he's got the chance to peg back another one.
Selby 2-5 Williams (6-0)
Here we go then, it's a biggie. Whatever happens in this frame will go some considerable way to shaping how both players approach things tonight. Williams break and Selby brilliant, fearlessly hoses a red into the bottom right and screws back for the blue. Wowsers! You see so many of those in the game these days that you do get a bit desensitised to what phenomenal shots they are. Under this pressure - 5-2 in the hole - that's exceptional. It's not the springboard for anything beyond a break of six though, as Selby misses a routine red with the rest to abruptly end his break.
Selby 2-5 Williams
We'll call that a statement break. There's not enough on for a ton, but that 98 is Selby's best break of the day so far.
Selby 1-5 Williams (68-6)
Selby calmly picks off 45 and counting, which will be enough for the frame. This could be a big clearance in the context of the match, and we've got a huge final frame of the afternoon coming up.
Selby 1-5 Williams (37-6)
Yikes, this is a bad one; Selby misses what looked a routine red to right middle, catching the bottom jaw and leaving the red on over the green pocket. It could - should - be costly, but isn't as Williams misses a red to bottom right with the rest. It stays in the jaws but he's covered it with the black. That's not much use against snooker's Paul Newman though as Selby swerves around it, pool hall hustler style, and tags it in to go up for the blue. One controlled cannon into the bunch later, it's advantage Selby.
Selby 1-5 Williams (19-0)
Selby's in first in frame seven, but as luck's out when he goes into the pack off the black and is only left with a nasty cut on a red to bottom right. He figures he may as well go for it though, and slices it in before landing fortuitously on the brown. Another tough red follows that, and he's now got the white and the table under control. If there's one player that won't be phased about a scoreline like this, it's Selby.
Selby 1-5 Williams
The frame is soon toast, and I daresay we've got another century in the post here. Sure enough, it arrives; Williams is cueing like a dream, and mops up everything for a brilliant total clearance of 133. That's his 17th century of the season so far.
Selby 1-4 Williams (0-56)
Williams rides his luck a touch as he stuns in a red, splits the pack in the process and almost sends the white into the right middle. It catches the high knuckle though, and he's on the blue. Nothing is safe from here and a half-ton is soon in the books, with plenty more coming I shouldn't wonder.
Selby 1-4 Williams (0-25)
More bad news for Selby at the start of frame six, as he tries to roll a red into the right middle from his position near the bottom cushion. The red rolls out off the knuckles, and it's on as a cut for Williams. It's dropped in, natch, and Williams is up to 25 swiftly with what's in the open. The pack will need a wallop shortly, but this is a great chance to register another big visit.
Selby 1-4 Williams
Williams converts the final red on the stretch, and lands perfectly on the blue. That goes, as do all the colours of course, and a 74 restores Williams's advantage to three frames. Whatever happens from here this afternoon, he'll be level at the very least in the evening session.
Selby 1-3 Williams (39-27)
This is dangerous, because all of the reds are in the open. Selby escapes, but he's left a cut on a red to left middle. Williams drains it, and then the brown, before coming down to the business end of the table. This is such a good look at a steal, as all of the colours are on their spots. Williams has got 27 on the board already.
Selby 1-3 Williams (39-0)
A poor safety from Williams leaves a cut on a red to bottom left. Selby slides it in, leaving a long black to keep going. He can't convert it, and it's a chance for Williams. Once again though, Williams leaves a red in the jaws, this time in the mouth of the bottom left, and Selby could really make some hay from this. In reaching 15 though he has a shocker, potting the pink but going in and out of ball and landing almost touching on a red with no pot on. There was such a big margin for error there. After some tap and nudge on said red, Selby leaves a touching ball; when he returns, he finds Williams has left him tight behind the brown near the top cushion.
Selby 1-3 Williams (23-0)
We're back, and Selby gets a double in as a shot to nothing from behind the black. Is the tide turning here slightly? Williams then misses a long red to the yellow pocket, leaving it in the jaws and it's a chance for Selby. He makes 22 from it, but trusts to luck on a kiss onto the black and kisses it half-ball rather than full. End of break.
Selby 1-3 Williams
Selby's out here now. He lets his arm go, clearing up the reds and everything else for 62 and the frame.
That brings us to the mid-session interval, we'll be back in 15 minutes.
Selby 0-3 Williams (44-30)
A poor shot from Selby brings his efforts to an end on
16 as he can't locate position on any of the four remaining reds. Williams immediately hands him another chance though, shorting a containing safety so badly that he leaves a red on to the bottom right. These have to go now, surely.
Selby 0-3 Williams (32-30)
It's a struggle for Selby, this match. He plays a shocker of a containing safety here, with the white nowhere near the bottom cushion and leaving an easy red to left middle. Williams can only make eight from the chance, and after another safety exchange Selby overcuts a red to bottom right and he's left it. How about this though - Williams can't clip the red in and leaves it in the jaws. That could be the break Selby needs in this match.
Selby 0-3 Williams (24-22)
Selby cannot get going here, and misses a mid-range red to the bottom left. We then have a tense stand-off with the red remaining over the pocket, with both players trying to cover the angle to it. Eventually Williams tries to play another red onto it but the shot doesn't work out, and it's a chance for Selby to get right back into this. He does get in front in the frame, but in trying to go into the pack off the black he skids of the side of them and lands marooned in baulk.
Selby 0-3 Williams (0-22)
This frame is hardly must-win for Selby in a best of 19, but he'll enjoy his brew a lot more in the interval if he can take it. He gets the first chance, a red long to the bottom right, but it coughs out of the jaws and he's left it. Williams steps in to mop it up, and his have-a-yahoo-at-anything mindset remains in place as he converts a tough red and then even tougher black to keep his break ticking in the early stages. Another long, recovery red to the green pocket takes him to 23, but he then misses the yellow on the stretch to nix all the fun.
Selby 0-3 Williams
Selby doesn't even get a look at laying them; Williams piles in another 40 before missing the brown, and he's three ahead.
Selby 0-2 Williams (5-68)
The players trade stunning long reds - first Selby, then Williams - and Selby returns to the table glued behind the green near baulk. There are five reds left out there, and he'll do incredibly well to leave nothing on here. Selby duly escapes, but there's a red on to right middle. Williams plugs it, followed by the black, and Selby now needs snookers.
Selby 0-2 Williams (4-59)
Williams goes into the remaining pack off the blue, and is just about on a red to bottom right with the rest. He prods that in, running through to land on the black, and that goes too, bringing up a half-century. There'll be no more though as he's missed a tricky red to right middle with his next shot, and Selby's still in this one.
Selby 0-2 Williams (4-37)
A safety exchange opens frame three, with one miss apiece traded, before Williams glides a red into the bottom left and lands on the blue. He quickly compiles 26, before playing the shot of the match so far; a snicked, slow-rolled black along the bottom cushion and into the bottom right to hold for his next red. That is a stunning pot.
Selby 0-2 Williams
Sure enough Williams bags the lot for a superb 110.
Selby 0-1 Williams (4-76)
Williams goes to 48 with frame ball red, and the black to follow brings in the first half-century of the day. He looks very calm out there - when does he not, in fairness - and looks like he's up for putting this right on Selby's toes today. Everything is in the open here so Williams may well convert this into a century.
Selby 0-1 Williams (4-46)
Selby goes all out for a long red to hold for the black from the D, but the pot spits out and leaves a red on for Williams instead. Mark picks it off, and he's quickly through the pack again off another red. What a split, they've landed like a practice table! He needs to convert a tough black to take advantage of it, and makes it; this is his to lose now.
Selby 0-1 Williams (4-21)
We have a re-rack at the start of frame two, and when we resume It's Williams that takes charge of things with a long red to the bottom left. He's in an attacking mood today, and goes into the pack early with a lovely delayed screw shot off the black to open the frame up. Yet just as it looks like the first big break of the day might be incoming, Williams goes in-off in the left middle and it's end of break.
Selby 0-1 Williams
A good snooker from Selby brings forth eight more points as Williams needs three pops to escape it. A tense exchange follows on the green, and Williams cracks first, leaving it on to right middle. Selby gets down to it...but he's missed it and left it over the left middle instead! Williams needs the lot to win the frame, and calmly mops them up win a Homeric first frame!
Selby 0-0 Williams (51-41)
Here's a chance for Selby, as Williams leaves one of the reds on to the green pocket. Selby glances it in with the rest, and then tags in the yellow. That leaves a tricky red down the left rail to bottom left, effectively frame ball with everything else in the open. Selby needs the cue extension, and it's a stretch; it rattles in the jaws and doesn't drop, and I think Williams can get to the edge of it. He can; Williams nudges in red and then black, the frame now at his mercy with the colours on their spots. What a shocker here though - he's left the yellow in the jaws of its own pocket! Selby converts it with the rest, but can't get on the green; we could be here a while yet!
Selby 0-0 Williams (46-33)
Williams makes nine before missing a narrow red to the bottom right. It's a scrappy one, and Selby can neither convert a red with the rest to follow or definitively move the two reds away from the black near the bottom left. Williams gets a red in as a thin cut, and lays a snooker in baulk that yields four before Selby can escape. There's an interesting battle now, as the black is completely covering the bottom left and Williams is laying a series of snookers behind it. Eventually the two reds are nudged into more open play, as the frame ticks on to the 30 minute mark.
Selby 0-0 Williams (46-19)
Selby looks to be in the same touch he was in last night. A deft brush cannon on four reds after potting a pink into the left middle has opened this right up, but it's gone wrong now - he tries to guide the black past the two blocking reds and pot it on the right of the bottom right pocket, but it stays out and attaches itself to the two reds. This could really slow things down. Williams gets one red down, and then snookers Selby in behind the black. Selby can't escape, giving away three fouls, and off the latter Williams opts to have a yahoo at a long red. It doesn't go, but neither does the follow up effort from Selby and it's a chance for Williams.
Selby 0-0 Williams (38-6)
Williams responds with six, his effort ending when he fails to make an offset plant to bottom right. That leaves Selby on a red to left middle, which he plugs to land on the pink. It's an awkward table, but Selby rehouses the black to it's natural home and adroitly clears the reds around it. This is, steadily, turning into a frame-winning chance. Two reds covering each other and blocking the path to the bottom left mean this isn't completely straightforward.
Selby 0-0 Williams (7-0)
Some chuckles early on here as both players get a bit lucky when loose shots fail to leave a red on. Selby gives Williams a playful shove, and it's giggles all around from the players and the crowd. the first chance falls to Selby as Williams misses a cut on a red with the rest, catching it so thin that he leaves the white in them middle of the table. Selby has a tap in as a starter, and is straight into the pack off the blue. A good recovery red to the green pocket follows, but he then misses a mid-range blue to the yellow pocket and it's end of break.
Here we go
Williams enters first, followed by Selby. This final is a best of 19, we'll have eight frames this afternoon.
The Welsh Potting Machine TM
Williams is on the hunt for his first ranking event title since winning this event in 2021. If he can do it again, it'll be a hat-trick of triumphs in this tournament. His semi-final was a more taxing affair, a 6-3 win over Hossein Vafaei yesterday afternoon in a match strewn with errors.
Jester
Of the two players on the baize today, Selby is the form horse. Although he hasn't won a tournament since December 2022, he's been in the last four of his last five tournaments. At the Crucible in May he came within a whisker of a fifth world title, and in Cheltenham this week he's come through a tough field, beating Tian Pengfei, Si Jiahui, David Gilbert and Jack Lisowski in the earlier rounds. Last night he produced an awesome performance to wipe out Xiao Guodong 6-0 in his semi-final.
MARK AND MARK: THE FUNKY BUNCH
Welcome to the final of the 2023 British Open. The open draw format in Cheltenham this week created some tasty matches earlier on and allowed others lower in the world rankings to make progress and shine. We’re at the denouement now though, and the outsiders are sat outside. Quality will win out as they say, and it has here; in today’s final we’ve got two all-time greats in opposition.
Mark Williams and Mark Selby are, undisputedly, are in the top 10 of all players ever to have taken cue to baize. In the head-to-head Selby leads it 13-11, and has won the last three meetings; in finals they’re two apiece, so there’s not a lot between them. Two warriors, and two legends.
All of that adds up to one thing – we should be in for a belter here today. The union of boys and baize will be in around 15 minutes.
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Welcome back for the final
It is the battle of the Marks, Williams and Selby, who have landed just the seven world titles, 16 Triple Crown wins and 46 ranking event victories between them.
It should be a pretty absorbing Sunday with everything on the line for glory at the British Open.
Join us from 12.45 UK time to see how it all pans out.
Recap
Mark Williams advanced to the final of the British Open in Cheltenham after defeating Hossein Vafaei 6-3, marking his 40th ranking final.
Williams face Mark Selby in the championship decider after the world No. 5 whitewashed Xiao Guodong in the second semi-final of the day.
The champion will receive a £100,000 prize after Sunday's decisive match.
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