World champion Mark Selby beat Gary Wilson 4-1 at the Northern Ireland Open to advance to the round of 16. Selby won the World Championship for the fourth time by beating Sean Murphy 18-15 in the World Championship final in May. Later, at the British Open, he replaced Judd Trump as world number one.
Regardless of this week's outcome, however, Trump will return to world number one. That's because the prize money Selby earned at the 2019 England Open and the semi-finals of the 2019 China Championships will be deducted from the ranking system after the event ends.
Leicester's Selby faced a treacherous ordeal tonight against a well-to-do Wilson. Wilson, from Gateshead, won the first two rounds 4-0, scoring 50 points on six occasions in the process.
Selby ended Wilson's winning record shortly after the game began to take a 2-0 lead. Wilson counter-attacked with a single shot of 111 to close the gap, and in the 4th inning he looked like he was about to equalize when he led 69-8. However, after an unexpected misstep by Wilson, Selby scored an iconicly strong clearance with 62 points to take the match point first.
World Number One Selby then began trying to hit a single-shot 147, but made a mistake on the 11th red ball to end the battle with a single-shot 80 points. Selby will face David Gilbert in tonight's 16-8 match.
"It wasn't until Gary lost that simple red ball in the 4th inning that I felt like I had a chance. At that time, the situation looked like it was about to be tied at 2-2, and being able to take over the clearance was equivalent to picking up a big bargain. Then my good form came. 20-time ranking champion Selby said.
"I sat in my chair and expected him to play 2-2 draws. He's never conceded that ball, he can score 100 for 100, I don't know what he was thinking, you have to ask him. ”
"I always felt calm when I hit 147. I know the red ball under the pink ball will be hard. I was dealing with it at the right time, but that K-ball happened to be the effect I didn't want. ”
Defending champion Trump defeated China's Lu Ning 4-2. The "Ace King" has maintained an impressive record in this event, winning consecutive championships in the past three years. However, he didn't play at his best tonight. Trump scored a high of 83 points in the game, winning with a key pink ball in the fierce sixth set. Next, he's going to face Jimmy Robertson.
Trump said: "I lost some simple balls that I would never lose. Attention was gone from the start. I was tired from sitting there and I thought I just had to find a way to win the game and not care how I won. ”
Stewart Bingham came back from 2-3 to beat Ashley Carty 4-3. In the decider he laid the victory with a Thunderous single-shot 52 points.