After reversing O'Connor's defeat, Selby considered retiring
Four-time Crucible king Mark Selby will spend time in the summer deciding whether to retire after losing 6-10 to Joe O'Connor in the first round of the World Championships.
In this shocking contest so far, debutant O'Connor has overcome one of the greatest players in the history of the sport, turning a 7-2 lead into arguably the biggest win of his career. The world number 30 trains with Selby in Leicester and will face Kyren Wilson or Dale in the round of 16.
Selby won the tournament in 2014, 16, 17 and '21 and lost to Luca a year earlier to finish runners-up. He has struggled to win for most of the season but has failed to win the ranking event, and after losing to Gary Wilson at his most recent tournament on tour, he revealed that he will retire if his performances at Crucible do not improve. After today's loss, he described his performance as "pathetic" but would not rush to make a decision about his future.
The 40-year-old said: "I would sit down with my wife and talk about the options. I'm definitely going to be out of snooker for a few weeks now. I didn't get to the fun of playing for most of the season and I prevented myself from playing freely, which was messing up my mind. Snooker affected me on a spiritual level, which was not what I wanted. Happiness is more important. I've achieved a lot in the game, but I still can't get out there and enjoy the game. If I decide to continue, then I first need to work on this with someone else. ”
As for the match, he added: "I was pathetic from start to finish. From 2-2 to 7-2, I played badly and made it too easy for him to get points. I know he's not going to freeze, he's not that kind of person. Even though I lost, I was happy for him, and no one was more proud of him than I was. ”
O'Connor's career highlights include beating Higgins twice in his debut season of 18/19 and reaching the semi-finals of the Welsh Open. At the 2022 Scottish Open, he went one step further, finishing runner-up to Gary and breaking into the top 32 in the world. The season was disappointing until the last and most important race. This is the first time this season that he has reached the round of 16 of a ranking tournament. The 28-year-old endured a brutal test in qualifying, beating Selt 10-8 in a match that took 110 minutes, the second-longest match in snooker history.
Now, he joins the roster of seeded players who were eliminated in their debut at Crucible. In Sunday's game, O'Connor took a 7-2 lead with 122, 67, 101, 74 and 61 points. In the second period, Selby won the opening game with a score of 112 points, and then the two games were tied, and O'Connor took an 8-4 lead. In the 13th game, O'Connor took the lead and scored 31 points to call the ball wrong. Selby scored 91 points on a long-range red ball, increasing his hopes of fighting back.
After the break, O'Connor scored 57 points to control the 14th game and get the match point early with a score of 9-5. Selby replied with a 67 to no avail, but the key was that he missed the final top pocket red and he fell behind 39-42 in the 16th game. After a brief safe exchange, O'Connor fought into the far table and remained calm to clear the countertop.
O'Connor said: "It's unbelievable to be able to play with Mack on my debut, and winning is my dream. I've been watching him since I started playing and he's always inspired me. I hope he doesn't retire. "I love playing there, the crowd is great and I feel like I belong there. I didn't feel nervous until the last minute. Beating a top player gives you so much confidence and shows that all the hard work paid off. ”
At the next table, Williams edged up 5-4 over Si Jiajia in the game that ended Tuesday afternoon. Three-time champion Williams opened the hill with a big 142 and won the second game, but last year's semi-finalist Si Jiahui snatched four of the next five games with just a 52. Ma Wei fell behind 3-4 and scored 57 and 63 points in a row to win the last two games to establish a slight advantage. (Welcome to click to pay attention to moisturizing AB, please indicate the source for reprinting, thank you)