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An angry Mark Selby was sensationally knocked out 10-8 by his friend Ben Woollaston on Thursday night as the shocks continued at the Crucible.
The four-time world champion, the second favourite going into the tournament, follows the defending champion, Kyren Wilson, and the 2010 winner, Neil Robertson, in going out of the World Snooker Championship in the first round.
It also means the Jester from Leicester has been beaten in the first round by a player from the same city for the second successive year, after his 10-6 loss to Joe O’Connor last year. Woollaston, 37, the world No 44, is competing at the Crucible for the first time since 2013. His wife is the snooker referee Tatiana Woollaston.
“I didn’t deserve to win,” Selby said. “Ben played some great stuff, his safety was unbelievable at times but I still had my chances. It was pathetic really from me, to play like that is disappointing.
“It’s the same old story, I try too hard and stop myself from playing. I love Ben to bits, I’ve known him for years. I grew up with him and have seen him progressing.”
Selby appeared far from his normal cool self and an indication of his mood came at the end of the 13th frame, when he grabbed the yellow ball that was over the corner pocket and slammed it across the table before storming out of the arena. Needing snookers, he had erred in leaving the yellow over the pocket.
Woollaston, in contrast, was calm and composed throughout as he maintained his 5-4 overnight advantage, to lead 7-6 at the mid-session interval. The next two frames were shared, before Woollaston went 9-7 ahead.
Selby pulled one back but the underdog held his nerve to seal the greatest victory of his career, 21 years after he turned professional.
Woollaston has struggled with his health and has had enduring blackouts during matches. For several months he struggled with basic tasks, such as standing or staying awake for any length of time.
Although not officially diagnosed, Woollaston believes these health issues began after a Covid vaccination nearly four years ago. “I passed out after having it. I couldn’t stand for about six months. I’d never passed out in my life but I had that same feeling for about six months. Standing in the garden, standing in the shower, I felt like I was going to pass out,” he told Leicestershire Live.
“I couldn’t sleep enough. I literally woke up to eat because I was sleeping 18 to 20 hours a day. I put loads of weight on because I was just eating and sleeping. It was awful. I’d hit the ball and forget, just for a split second.”
Luca Brecel completed an impressive comeback to beat Ryan Day 10-7 and avoid becoming the latest former champion to exit.
The 2023 winner was 5-1 down to Day during the first session. But Brecel won the final three frames on Wednesday to make it 5-4 and get himself right back in the match.
Welsh qualifier Day, a three-time Crucible quarter-finalist, made a century in the opening frame of Thursday’s second session to put Brecel on the back foot once more. The Belgian then took charge of a scrappy contest, winning three successive frames again to take a 7-6 lead into the mid-session interval.
Although Day won the next frame to level at 7-7, Brecel went back in front at the next opportunity before edging a tight 16th frame – which was decided by a black-ball shootout – thanks in no small part to an audacious long double on the green with just the colours remaining.
Needing one more frame for victory, Brecel wrapped it up by a scoreline of 55-14 and will face Ding Junhui in the second round. The result was also a significant milestone for the No 7 seed – the first match he has won at the Crucible outside his surprise run to the title in 2023.
“It’s good to win, I was expecting to win, to be honest,” Brecel said. “Last night, when I got back to 5-4 from 5-1 down, I played some good stuff. If that goes 7-2, I’m going to lose. That was a turning point but, even at 5-1 down, I still felt OK and relaxed. I never really panic, especially here as it’s so long. I’ve made so many comebacks here, so it wasn’t surprising. ”
Thursday afternoon marked the start of the second round matches, with Mark Allen in early trouble against Chris Wakelin. After falling 2-0 behind, Allen steadied things with a break of 100 but a missed red allowed Wakelin to clear up and take a 3-1 lead at the mid-session interval.
An excellent snooker behind the black helped Allen cut the gap to 3-2 but his English opponent struck back with an 84 break. Wakelin, the world No 20, then took the last two frames of the session to build a commanding 6-2 lead in the first-to-13 contest.
Later on Thursday, the first round concludes with Mark Selby leading Ben Woollaston 5-4, while John Higgins faces Xiao Guodong in the last 16.
Four-time world champion John Higgins is locked at 4-4 with China’s Xiao Guodong after a nip-and-tuck start to their last-16 encounter. Xiao, who has risen into the world top 16 this season, is one of the most improved players on the circuit and is one of a record six Chinese to have reached the second round.
