Western Mail

Williams has no complaints after Selby’s super showing

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MARK WILLIAMS was left with no complaints after an incredible Mark Selby performanc­e saw him beaten with a session to spare at the Betfred World Snooker Championsh­ips.

Both Williams and Selby have won three world titles, but looked a class apart in Sheffield’s Crucible Theatre as the Englishman romped to a 13-3 win with nine frames not being played in their highly-anticipate­d quarter-final.

That was despite Williams, champion in 2000, 2003 and 2018, doing very little wrong in the match.

Ten breaks greater than 50 underpinne­d Selby’s dominance, with the Welshman indicating he wasn’t disappoint­ed with the match despite the heaviness of the scoreline.

“I got outplayed in every department. I have no problems holding my hand up and saying, ‘well played’,” he said.

“He played so solid, he didn’t really let me in the match and I couldn’t get involved in it. I have no problems with that.

“I was a little bit unlucky not to get out of that first session at 5-3 down. There were a couple of times I went into the reds and didn’t get on anything, and that was about all I did.

“He played some outstandin­g stuff and I couldn’t compete with that, not many really can.”

A century break from Williams saw him end the first session in style but at 6-2 down against one of the toughest opponents in the game, getting back into the match was always going to be a struggle.

The Cwm cueman needed Selby’s performanc­e to drop and it simply didn’t, with breaks of 96, 58 and 66 helping him win the first four frames of yesterday morning’s second session.

Williams won the first after the mid-session interval but three more from the Jester from Leicester wrapped up the match without having to return for an evening session.

■ Watch the World Snooker Championsh­ip live on Eurosport and Eurosport app from April 17- May 3

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