Selby keeps eyes on hat-trick as Zifan dismissed

MARK Selby powered into the third round at the ManBetX Welsh Open with a 4-1 win over Chen Zifan.

The Jester from Leicester was in steady form at Cardiff’s Motorpoint Arena yesterday, constructing breaks of 68 and 51 to end the world No. 107’s hopes of reaching the third round of a ranking event for the second time this season.

Selby, ranked No. 4 in the world, had to come from behind in the Welsh capital, however, going 1-0 down after a fast start from the Chinese player before finding his usual fluency to tee up a third round clash against Andy Lee, which is scheduled to take place today.

The three-time world champion is bidding to become the first man ever to claim a hat-trick of Home Nations titles in the same season, having already won the 19.com English and Scottish Opens in October and December to augment his trophy cabinet.

Selby already has the accolade of being the first man to win two of the events during the same campaign, but is keeping himself in the hunt for an unprecedented trio in the final Home Nations tournament of the season, which comes with a £70,000 winner’s prize.

Ben Woollaston also booked his place in the third round, edging past world No.71 Elliot Slessor with a 4-2 win.

Woollaston, the world No. 41 who is aiming for a return to the top 32 ahead of the Betfred World

Championship in April - also went a frame behind, then restoring parity before a third-frame 100 from Slessor saw him retake the lead.

But the 2015 Welsh Open runner-up soon found his feet, striking a fine break of 53 to make it 2-2 before marching on to victory.

Woollaston’s triumph set up a tie against either Alfie Burden or 2005 world champion Shaun Murphy.