Selby suffers Masters KO

THRee-TIMe champion Mark Selby suffered a first-round defeat by Mark Williams in a tense opening match at the dafabet Masters. Williams clinched the deciding frame to seal a 6-5 victory yesterday and book his place in the quarter-finals at Alexandra Palace. The 42-year-old Williams, who won the Masters in 1998 and 2003, took the first frame with a break of 135. He then moved 2-0 up with an 89 before Selby began to dominate, and at 5-3 ahead the world No 1 from Leicester looked on course to complete his comeback. There was more to come from Williams, though, and the Welshman hauled himself level. Selby inched six points ahead in the decider but missed a difficult last red to give Williams a final chance, and he cleared to the pink to set up a last-eight clash with Barry Hawkins or Kyren Wilson. A delighted Williams said: ‘It was a good match — both of us played well, but I never gave in. I’m playing a hell of a lot better than I have done for many years. ‘If I can keep playing like that then someone’s going to have to play well (to beat me).’ World champion Selby was also an early casualty in last month’s UK Championship.