Maguire Ends Selby German Defence

Mark Selby’s German Masters title defence came to an early end on Thursday as he slipped to a second-round defeat against Stephen Maguire.

Maguire triumphed 5-3 in the last-16 clash in Berlin to set up a meeting with his fellow Scot Graeme Dott, who saw off world No8 Barry Hawkins by the same score.

Maguire, having come back from 3-2 down to seal his victory, said: “I fought well and closed it out well in the end.

“I’ve not been to the later stages of tournaments recently. I’ve put some hard work in and hopefully I can keep getting results.”

Judd Trump was one player ranked in the top 10 who did make the quarter finals as he defeated China’s Zhang Anda 5-1, the world No5 finishing off with three straight century breaks, including a 147 attempt that ended on 120.

Trump will take on Martin Gould, who also made short work of getting through as he beat Ben Woollaston 5-0.

Trump said: “I’ve practised a lot and it is paying off at the moment. I feel no pressure and I know I’m going to play well.

“I was confident of making the 147 because I made one on the same table last year. I just potted the [15th] black slightly too thin and the cue ball ran too far. If I can go out and play like that tomorrow I’ve got no worries.”

Earlier in the day, there were surprise first-round losses for Mark Allen and Marco Fu at the hands of Mark Joyce and Kurt Maflin respectively, but the world champion Stuart Bingham was among those to safely progress to round two, overcoming Fergal O’Brien 5-2.

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Selby Knocked out by Hawkins

World number one Mark Selby became the latest seed to be eliminated from the World Championship after a 10-3 defeat by Barry Hawkins.

Selby was 6-3 down after the first session, and failed to add to his tally in the second to become the eighth seed to go out in the first round.

He had little practice entering the tournament after a suffering a neck injury at the China Open .

Selby, 28, said: "There were certain shots I couldn't physically play."

He added: "I was trying my best out there but I didn't have the strength and the power.

"I'm happy that I managed to play because 10 days ago I was looking at pulling out."

Selby could find no rhythm against a determined Hawkins, the world number 22, who was at his ruthless best to eliminate the 2007 runner-up.

Resuming three frames behind, Selby required snookers in each of the first two frames of the evening session.

But he looked on helplessly as his opponent raced into an 8-3 lead, before the 33-year-old from Kent confirmed his place in the second round inside two hours.

Earlier, the first four frames of the match each featured half-century breaks, three of them by left-hander Hawkins.

In an eighth frame lasting almost an hour, Selby battled to secure three of the four snookers he required, but Hawkins kept his nerve.

When Selby again failed to capitalise, Hawkins never looked back after sweeping into a commanding three-frame lead.

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Selby Withdraws from China Open

Mark Selby has withdrawn from the China Open with a neck injury.

The world number one had been due to play Ding Junhui in the last 16 but is returning to England for treatment.

"I struggled through my first-round match and I don't want to do any more damage, especially with the World Championship coming up," he said.

Ronnie O'Sullivan crushed Mark Williams 5-1 in their second-round match, while defending champion Judd Trump beat Stuart Bingham 5-3.

World number two Williams, who has not beaten O'Sullivan for 10 years, missed an opportunity to level the tie at 2-2 and went on to lose 5-1.

O'Sullivan, who now leads their head-to-head meetings 23-7, will meet the Welshman again in the second round of the World Championship if both players win their first-round matches.

Trump, who beat Mark Selby in last year's final, won three frames on the trot to book his place in the quarter-finals.

He will face Stephen Lee, who continued his good run of form with a 5-3 victory against Graeme Dott.

Selby Grinds Down The Rocket

Mark Selby wore down Ronnie O'Sullivan in a gruelling encounter to reach the final of the 888 Welsh Open in Newport.

The Leicester potter won 6-2 and will play Ding Junhui, a victor by the same margin over Shaun Murphy earlier in the day, in the best-of-17-frames final.

O'Sullivan was the man in form heading into Sunday's semi-final, fresh from winning the German Masters, his first major ranking title since September 2009, and from knocking out Judd Trump in the Newport quarter-finals on Saturday.

Selby, though, has done enough over the past two years to be ranked the world number one.

Although O'Sullivan started as favourite, it was easy to make the case for his opponent who delivered a safety-first performance - the clever way to play against O'Sullivan - to advance to the meeting with Ding.

After a scratchy start from both players, Selby did enough to take the opening frame.

O'Sullivan did not make a pot, but it had still been slow going and it came as some relief when a fluent 80 from the three-time former world champion made it 1-1.

Selby was in with 34 in third frame but broke down and fell 2-1 behind.

Excitement was at a premium. Selby took a messy fourth frame to draw level at 2-2 at the interval.

He moved 3-2 in front in similarly unspectacular fashion after the fifth frame went down to the last three colours.

O'Sullivan played a poor safety on the blue and it lost him the frame. Selby cut the ball into the left middle pocket before rolling in a long pink.

It came down to a tactical exchange towards the end of the sixth frame, too, and again Selby came out on top, clearing from the final red to the pink to pull two frames clear.

O'Sullivan missed a red to the green pocket at the start of frame seven. Selby then missed a blue which he had left tricky by over-screwing.

It remained messy, a tough contest with neither man settling into a rhythm.

But that suited Selby more than it did O'Sullivan, and with a succession of visits to the table he was able to stretch his lead to three frames.

The eighth frame was all Selby, and the match was over in a hurry, to Selby's delight.

Ding impressed in beating Murphy to reach his first ranking event final of the season.

The 24-year-old from China has endured a largely disappointing campaign, suffering frequent first-round defeats and failing to reproduce the form which took him to the Crucible semi-finals last year.

But in Wales this week he has raised his performance, knocking out John Higgins early on, although he had more than a little luck when quarter-final opponent Stephen Lee looked like winning a deciding frame, only for a ringing mobile phone to distract him during a key shot on the green.

Lee missed, Ding took advantage, and against Murphy today he was dominant.

Murphy had the only century of the match, 126 in the second frame, but runs of 91, 71, 86 and 75 earned Ding his success.

Ding said on worldsnooker.com: "I'm really happy to be in the final and I played well today."

Murphy conceded he was well beaten, saying: "When you are playing the best in the world, you have to hit them hard, and I didn't do that today.

"I only finished two frames off in one visit and that's not good enough, I didn't take enough of my chances."

Mark Selby Looking to Masters

World number one Mark Selby is hoping to continue his good form at the Masters when this year's tournament begins on Sunday.

Selby, 28, who plays Stephen Lee in the first round, won the event in 2008 and 2010, and reached the final in 2009.

"Each player seems to excel at a different type of tournament and with me, it appears to have been at the Masters," said Selby.

"The big crowds seem to bring out the best of me and I play my best snooker."

I enjoyed playing at Wembley Arena. I won the tournament there so I'm obviously going to say that but I'm always open for change and as long as I have a good tournament, I don't mind where it's played Selby on the move to Alexandra Palace

The non-ranking invitational tournament, which brings together the world's top 16 players, has moved to Alexandra Palace this year, bringing an end to a 33-year stay at Wembley.

While Wembley holds good memories for Selby, the 28-year-old doesn't believe the new venue will affect his chances of winning a third Masters title in five years.

"I enjoyed playing at Wembley Arena," said Selby. "I won the tournament there so I'm obviously going to say that but I'm always open for change and as long as I have a good tournament, I don't mind where it's played."

Selby won his first major title when he convincingly beat Lee in the Masters final in 2008.

But he believes the world number 15 will still provide a stern challenge when they meet each other again on Wednesday.

"I played him [Lee] in the final and I played really well then," said Selby. "If I play like that, I know I've got a good chance.

"Stephen is obviously a class act and he has shown in the past season what kind of player he is. It's going to be a tough game."

After two thrilling Masters finals against Ronnie O'Sullivan in 2009 and 2010, in which they won a title each, Selby crashed out to Mark King in the first round last year.

Defending champion Ding Junhui opens his account with a match against four-time Masters champion O'Sullivan on Sunday in a repeat of the 2007 final, which O'Sullivan won 10-3 to leave Ding in tears.

"Last year was great for me at the Masters, I had my problems before but I put those behind me and I am looking forward to it this year," said Ding.

Trump is probably the most dangerous player in the whole tournament because he's on a roll and loving every minute of it. He's a happy player on the table. He's got no worries and that's a dangerous animal Steve Davis on Masters contenders

Two-time Masters champion Mark Williams faces a tricky encounter with Stephen Maguire, who won his first title which carries ranking points for four years when he triumphed at this month's Players Tour Championship event in Munich, in Sunday's evening session.

On Monday, UK champion Judd Trump takes on Stuart Bingham, who won his first ranking title in Australia last July. If Trump, the 22-year-old left-hander from Bristol, prevails in that match, he will face the winner of the Ding-O'Sullivan clash.

Shaun Murphy, the 2005 world champion and 2008 UK champion, takes on Masters debutant Martin Gould later on Monday.

World champion Neil Robertson, who has never won more than one match at the Masters, takes on UK Championship finalist Mark Allenon Tuesday with John Higgins, a two-time Masters champion, taking on 2000 winner Matthew Stevens in the evening session.

The climax of the first-round matches, which are best of 11 frames, sees Selby take on Lee on Wednesday before Ali Carter plays three-time World Championship finalist Graeme Dott.