England Open 2021 - Mark Selby powers into round four with a 4-1 victory over Chris Wakelin as Shaun Murphy knocked out

ByThe Editorial Team

Updated 04/11/2021 at 18:40 GMT

Selby struggled with the cold on his way to the fourth round of the 2021 English Open. Selby, who won the tournament in 2019, looked at his fearsome best at times against a resilient Chris Wakelin who hung on to the match. Shaun Murphy suffered a shock 4-2 defeat at the hands of Fraser Patrick

Mark Selby advanced to the fourth round of the English Open with a 4-1 victory over Chris Wakelin.

The World Champion had to be at his best to grind down a stubborn Wakelin who was more than a match for Selby and kept the world number two on his toes.

Selby edged a tight first frame with a run of 51 but appeared to struggle with the temperature as he missed the easiest of reds.

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He put the temperature out of sight and out of mind in the second frame though, storming onto a 2-0 lead with a run of 86.

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Wakelin bounced back with a gritty run of 58 but the 2019 English Open champion responded with a brilliant century break of 102.

The underdog Wakelin proved resilient in the final frame and looked certain to pull one back before missing an easy red. And after 26 minutes, in the longest frame of the match, Selby found the bottom right pocket with a brilliant red that saw him gain the upper hand.

An epic battle in the yellow ensued with Wakelin desperate to stay alive in the match. But a calamitous kiss on the pink gifted Selby the yellow and the frame.

Selby advances to round four where he will play Yan Bingato for a spot in the quarter-finals, after the Chinese player defeated David Gilbert 4-2.

MURPHY KNOCKED OUT

Shaun Murphy suffered a shock 4-2 defeat to Fraser Patrick who advances to the fourth round of the competition.

The world number seven looked off colour against the world number 115 who held his nerve during a tight match.

Murphy nicked the first frame but Patrick replied with a run of 54 on his way to levelling the match.

Shaun Murphy crashes out of English Open to Fraser Patrick

Image credit: Getty Images

The Scot then went 2-1 up before Murphy equalised with an impressive comeback after Patrick hit a break of 58.

With the score all square Patrick hit a run of 84 before coming out on top in a mammoth frame to take the match.

Patrick will play Luca Brecel in round four after he beat Li Hang 4-1 in the third round.

Elsewhere, Jamie Clarke secured a 4-1 victory over Thepchaiya Un-Nooh and Ding Junhui secured a 4-0 whitewash over Martin Gould.

John Higgins was pushed the whole way by Lu Ning, as the Scottish former world number oene ran out a 4-3 winner.

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