Selby plays down talk of historic hat-trick

MARK Selby is on the hunt for a hat-trick of home nations trophies, but says he isn’t getting carried away by the prospect of becoming the first man to achieve the feat, writes Will Jennings, of Sportsbeat.

The Jester from Leicester safely navigated his way into the second round of the ManBetX Welsh Open on Monday night, battling past David Grace 4-2 but having to come from a frame behind to line up with Gerard Greene today.

The three-time world champion has already become the first player to win two of the four home nations tournaments in a single season, triumphing at the 19.com English and Scottish Opens and now vying for glory at the final event of the campaign.

But having missed out on the tantalising £1 million prize money available for scooping all four – world No.1 Judd Trump reigned supreme in Northern Ireland in November – the world No.4 isn’t thinking about breaking records.

“Winning a third home nations event isn’t really in my mind – it’s just about going out there and trying to do my best,” he said.

“I’ve got good memories of the Welsh Open as it was my first ranking tournament win. It’s a great city and a great venue, so it’s nice to still be in the tournament.”

Elsewhere, Leicester’s Louis Heathcote was another player to keep his name in the second round draw, edging past China’s Lu Ning 4-3 after late breaks of 75 and 68.

Fellow East Midlands potter and world No.22 Tom Ford also overcame an early scare to beat Xu Si 4-3 and book a date with Martin O’Donnell today.

■■Watch the Welsh Open live on Eurosport and Eurosport Player with analysis from Jimmy White and Neal Foulds.