The reigning Betfred World Snooker Champion, Mark Selby, will be watching the rest of the tournament from home after being on the wrong end of a 13-10 scoreline against Yan Bingtao – but not before another historic chapter had been written.
Betfred TV’s Mark Pearson
The 22nd frame of this titanic tussle was the longest-ever recorded in Betfred World Snooker Championship history, taking over 85 minutes to complete. It went the way of the young Chinese player, who then popped in a century break to round off a stylish victory at 10:55pm.
It means a first Crucible quarter-final appearance for the 22-year-old, while Ronnie O’Sullivan is at the other end of the spectrum with a record twentieth last-eight match on the horizon.
For Selby, it ends his title defence, but we at Betfred would like to thank him for being a truly wonderful champion for the last twelve months; and it would take a brave man to bet against him winning a fifth World crown in the future.
Have a listen to Mark Selby’s post-match press conference:
It does mean a different name will etched onto the glittering trophy, but not necessarily a new one. With the likes of Ronnie, Williams, Higgins, Trump, Robertson and Bingham all flying the flag for former champs, it is still around 1/8 that the trophy will go to a previous winner.
The other players left in the draw will of course have other ideas.
There are no scheduled finishes on Sunday, with the other second round matches all having their second sessions today, and all are tight affairs in the early stages. Both McGill v Trump and Robertson v Lisowski were all square at 4-4 for their resumption in play, while Higgins v Saengkham is at the same score and Bingham leads Wilson 5-3 before they return this evening.
The four matches all conclude on Monday, when play is not set to get underway until 1pm.
We will be back tomorrow, when the quarter final line-up will be nearing completion.
Enjoy the lie in!!
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