MARK Selby capitalised on a stroke of cruel luck for opponent Mark Williams to reach the Dafabet Masters quarter-finals at Alexandra Palace.
World number one Selby stayed on course to add the Masters to the World Championship and UK Championship trophies already in his possession, edging out Williams 6-5 in London.
It seemed Williams was on course to cause a major upset when he began to build a break in the deciding 11th frame, only for an unlucky kick on the blue to send the ball fractionally off its intended course.
The bad contact – not the fault of Williams – halted the frustrated Welshman in his tracks, and Selby produced an 89 break to take frame and match.
Selby sympathised with the two-time former Masters champion, as he kept his own bid for a fourth triumph alive.
“It’s one of them where if I’m playing it I’ll probably punch it in to take the kick out of the equation,” Selby told BBC Two.
“But that’s the way Mark plays, he always rolls everything and he’s won so much in the game by doing that, so why should he change his game?
“It’s just very unfortunate.”
Steve Davis, the three-time former Masters winner, said: “There’s no way it won’t hurt.”
Williams had gamely taken Selby all the way to the decider, fighting back from a 3-1 interval deficit.
Selby had early breaks of 139, 62 and 109 in successive frames, but in the end was relieved to get over the line.
His quest to be the holder of each of snooker’s big three Triple Crown titles remains on target, and Selby had that on his mind as he headed to London from his Leicestershire base.
“That was on my mind coming here,” Selby said.
“It’s such a tough tournament to win anyway.”
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here