Snooker:Mark Selby sent red-hot favourite Ronnie O'Sullivan crashing out of the World Snooker Championship tonight. Selby has become an irritant to three-time world champion O'Sullivan after making a habit of fighting back to beat him in major finals.
Selby won 9-8 from 8-5 down against O’Sullivan in the 2008 Welsh Open and then 10-9 from 9-6 behind at January’s Wembley Masters.
This was another example of his refusal to accept looming defeat, as Selby won the final four frames to earn a 13-11 victory.
After the Masters defeat at the start of the year O’Sullivan suggested neither he nor Selby would be capable of winning the world title due to their shared bold, attacking approach.
That may still hold true this year, but it was a careless assessment from O’Sullivan and one Selby would love to disprove over the bank holiday weekend.
Selby began the evening session 9-7 behind but knowing that O’Sullivan, who was curiously booed by a minority of spectators as he entered the arena, would be expecting him to fight all the way.
They had started the day at 4-4 but O’Sullivan threatened to run away with the afternoon session, winning five of the first six frames with breaks of 92, 89, 86, 117 and 52.
He was playing unbelievably well for a player who has looked disinterested for much of the tournament.
The flurry of high breaks made the next two frames critical, and Selby took both with runs of 104 and 62 to begin the fightback.
He also won two of the first three frames of the evening to cut O’Sullivan’s lead to 10-9, and was well placed in the next when he missed a routine black.
Selby struck the white so hard that the black jumped out of the pocket and six inches into the air before careering down to the baulk cushion.
For O’Sullivan the chance was an unexpected gift and he raced to 75 to take the frame.
That meant Selby needed four of the next five to reach the semi-finals.
He made it three from four required thanks to a smooth break of 108, and then two from three after a scrappier frame.
O’Sullivan looked on edge; the afternoon form was long gone.
Both men had chances and missed easy balls in the 23rd frame but Selby’s 46 break proved decisive as he swept into the lead.
O’Sullivan was in with a break of 36 at the start of the frame he needed to win to force a decider, but he broke down and Selby soon had a match-winning chance.
He needed more than one visit to the table to make sure, but when he rifled in the brown O’Sullivan rose from his seat to shake his conqueror’s hand.