Neil Robs Selby of a little bit of snooker history
Defending champion Mark Selby saw his hopes of making snooker history ended at the English Open.
The three-time world champion was bidding to become the first player since Scotland’s Stephen Hendry, in 1990, to win the first two ranking titles of a season.
But the Leicester potter suffered an agonising 6-5 final frame semi-final defeat to Neil Robertson at the Marshall Arena in Milton Keynes.
And with defeat Selby also saw his chances of pocketing the £70,000 firstprize evaporate despite a courageous comeback.
He trailed 5-3, battled back to 5-5, but the Australian held his nerve to win a dramatic decider.
“It just felt as though no matter what I did the snooker gods were against me,” admitted Selby.
“Neil played well and got the run of the ball. Sometimes that’s what happens, but when you play well you get the run as well, so it wasn’t to be.
“I think it was just one of those games where I was probably destined not to win, everything I did just seemed to go wrong. And
everything Neil did seemed to go right.
“Even though this week I’ve got to the semis I don’t feel like I played fantastic. I’ve dug in and grafted, which I’ve always done in the past but performancewise I don’t think I played fantastic.
“The good thing is I’m not playing well and still winning sometimes, which wasn’t there a couple of years ago.”
Former world champion
Robertson edged 2-0 ahead before Selby responded with runs of 117, 58 and 73 to level proceedings.
But his good mate Robertson compiled breaks of 58 and 134 to surge 4-2 ahead.
Selby rallied with a 70 break, but Robertson moved within one frame of victory thanks a fine 129 break.
A top break of 51 helped Selby as he won two scrappy frames to force the decider, but Robertson finished the job with a pressure 92 break.
“Mark was as tenacious as ever,” reflected Robertson. “I have to admit I did get quite fortunate in the last frame.
“I missed a red and split the reds everywhere. Mark gave me a bit of a dirty look and then played safe.
“I potted a brave brown and then I’ve gone on to win the match. I could have played a safety like Mark did but that just goes to show our different styles really.
“But I always prefer to lose a match going for a positive shot rather than a safety shot.
It’s just a slight difference between us.”
Robertson will face either four-time world champion John Higgins or world No 1 Judd Trump in today’s showcase final.
He added: “It was a brilliant match.
“In a best-of-11 you know there’s going to be pressure because there’s a lot at stake getting to a final.
“Once the match opened up a bit I got some good scoring and won a couple of frames very quickly and established a good lead.
“I wasn’t really too sure with how I was going to be playing after the first few events but I’m really happy with how I’m playing.
“My game’s free-flowing, really good scoring and I’m winning really important frames and that’s a fantastic recipe for a lot of success.”