World Snooker Championship 2023: Mark Selby battles back to level opening session with John Higgins
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Updated 25/04/2023 at 17:39 GMT
John Higgins and Mark Selby are seasoned Crucible veterans and they look set to serve up a tight World Snooker Championship quarter-final after a close opening session. Higgins looked extremely good in the early exchanges on Tuesday afternoon, but Selby responded in true Mark Selby fashion. The pair will resume battle on Wednesday afternoon - with the match to conclude in the evening.
'That's brilliant!' - Higgins nails delightful re-spotted black to take frame
Mark Selby battled back from three frames behind on two occasions to share the opening session of his World Championship quarter-final with John Higgins.
Higgins started the match in the kind of form that saw him crush Kyren Wilson 13-2 in the previous round. But Selby dug in, and aided by a huge fluke in the sixth, he was able to win the final three frames to level the session at 4-4.
The two will return to the Crucible on Wednesday afternoon, with the match to conclude later that evening with back-to-back sessions - which Higgins has spoken out about.
The match started in dramatic fashion, with Higgins opening with a 67. The break ended when he played a red across the bottom cushion, similar to one he played in his win over Wilson that the Scot said had no right to go in. It was a similar scenario this time, as he caught the cushion some way before the pocket. On this occasion, it did not drop.
Selby trailed by 67 with 67 on the table, and he mopped them up to force a re-spot.
After making the running, Higgins seemed intent on attacking. He missed a couple of tough pots, but eventually was rewarded for his approach when crunching it into the green pocket.
The second turned scrappy, with colours off spots and blue and pink up the table, and black tied up. Higgins was totally unfazed, as he got the blue back on its spot and worked off it to get enough points to secure the frame.
Any student of snooker given a still image of the third frame at the 15-minute mark with no knowledge of the players taking part would likely make an educated guess that Selby was involved, as reds were in unusual places with the cue ball tied to the bottom cushion.
The only surprise was that Selby made the mistake, as after a lengthy safety exchange he gave Higgins a sighter at a red to the yellow pocket, which he knocked in before making a break of 63 which proved enough to secure a three-frame advantage.
Selby has never been fazed by falling behind in three-session matches, and he pounced on an error from Higgins to take the fourth courtesy of a run of 70.
Selby had a chance in the frame after the interval, but missed a black off its spot - albeit with the cue ball tight to the cushion - and Higgins picked off a break of 79 to restore his three-frame advantage.
The look of anger on Selby’s face after the missed black showed he had made a mistake. Not following up a mistake with another is important, but it was only an almighty fluked red - which he missed to the bottom left, only for it to career up the table, flick a couple of other balls and drop into the right middle - that prevented it from happening. He did not pass up the gift, as a break of 70 secured the sixth frame.
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'What an incredible fluke!' - Selby gets very lucky with wild shot
Selby had been starved of table time earlier in the match, but after the slice of luck from the fluke in the previous frame, he produced a one-visit kill with a run of 82 to cut the gap to one.
After dominating the early exchanges, it was Higgins’ time to struggle and he gifted a chance to Selby when hitting the wrong red. The Scot left the table scratching his head, and he was left to rue the error as Selby took the frame with the first century of the match and the 99th of his Crucible career to level the contest ahead of the second session on Wednesday.
The action on the adjoining table followed a similar pattern, as Anthony McGill battled back from 3-1 behind to split the session with Si Jiahui at 4-4.
Crucible debutant Si has taken superbly to the biggest stage, and took advantage of some early mistakes from his opponent to open up a lead.
McGill was so frustrated with his play that he offered his cue to a fan, but he dug himself out of trouble by winning the final three frames. They will return for session two on Wednesday morning.
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