Mark Selby: The reigning world snooker champion was defeated by Yan Bingtao in the second round | News about billiards

Mark Selby beat Yan Bingtao 13-10 in a second round clash that included the longest frame in Crucible history as the crucial 22nd game lasted 85 minutes and 22 seconds; Six-time winner Ronnie O’Sullivan reaches the quarterfinals with a 13-4 win over Mark Allen

Four-time snooker champion and reigning world snooker champion Mark Selby was knocked out in the second round at the Crucible

Defending champion Mark Selby lost the longest goal in Crucible history when he was knocked out of the World Snooker Championships by China’s Yan Bingtao.

Selby’s worst start in the epic 22nd time slot lasted 85 minutes and 22 seconds – easily overshadowing the previous 79-and-a-half minute mark set by Gary Wilson and Luca Brecel in 2019.

And another tireless century followed for the 22-year-old Yan, successfully completing a grueling 13-10 and sending him into the quarterfinals of the clash with three-time champion Mark Williams.

Selby looking on the bright side after his defeat, the four-time winner who entered the tournament fought
mental health concerns for much of the season and withdrew from two previous tournaments in Turkey and Gibraltar.

“I’m proud of myself,” Selby said. “After really struggling and not enjoying the game, I came into this tournament not really knowing what was going to happen.

“I felt as if I was the better player for most of the game. It seems like my game has come back a little bit and I’m enjoying it, so that’s very positive going forward. .”

Yan built up a two-frame lead in their end and looked set to beat the champion as he won the first two frames of the evening to extend the lead to 11-7.

But Selby bounced back in a bracket with consecutive breaks of 86, 117 and 88, setting up the last all-important frame 22 which Yan ultimately won after squeezing black in the middle.

O’Sullivan reaches record-breaking quarterfinals

In a record-breaking day at the Crucible, Ronnie O’Sullivan previously set two new marks after taking the lone frame win he needed to beat a 13-4 win over Mark Allen and move into the last eight teams.

Ronnie O’Sullivan overcame a record 20th quarter-final at the Crucible with a 13-4 win over Mark Allen

O’Sullivan’s 20th place in the quarterfinals eclipsed the previous best he shared with Stephen Hendry, while his 71st career win also gave him clarity on his winning streak. a single player at the current location.

Typically O’Sullivan, who is currently the favorite to match the Scots’ record seven Crucible crowns next week, has repeated his frequent assertion that he doesn’t care for most. compliments kept coming to him.

“It makes no sense to me,” O’Sullivan insisted. “They’re not the kind of statistics that I’m proud of. The statistics that I’m proud of are specialized and that’s really about it.”

O’Sullivan will face Stephen Maguire in the quarter-finals after the 41-year-old Scot made the most of a borrowed signal against UK champion Zhao Xintong.

Maguire continued the final session of their game with a two-frame win but lost four of the first five on Saturday before the 59th break, which saw him win 13-9 over the seven-man seed. China.

Meanwhile, Neil Robertson opened fire two centuries in a row to top his level with Jack Lisowski towards the end of the opening session of their second game.

Lisowski won four goals in a row to turn a 2-0 deficit into 4-2, but the Australian dug deep to make it 4-4 before continuing on Sunday.

And a thrilling opening match between Judd Trump and Anthony McGill also ended completely normal, with each player scoring a century before McGill took the final break of the day to keep the game even.