Four-time winner Mark Selby is out of the 2025 World Snooker Championship in the opening round after suffering a shock 10-8 defeat to fellow Leicester cueman Ben Woollaston.
Having won three titles on the professional circuit this season, the world number four was one of the seriously fancied contenders for this year’s Crucible crown, but for the second year running, Selby exits the blue riband event at the first hurdle.
The encounter was a long, drawn-out affair, with more than half the frames taking longer than 30 minutes to complete. But world number 41 Woollaston shouldn't care, as he potted the winning balls a few minutes past midnight to score the most famous victory of his career, so far, and his first on snooker's grandest stage.
The early signs were good for Selby as he compiled a break of 100 in the opening frame, but qualifier Woollaston - who was appearing at the Crucible for the first time in 12 years - established advantages of 3-1 and 4-2 on Wednesday night.
However, despite struggling with tip issues, Selby dug deep, stringing together the final three frames - fashioning a 135 in frame nine - to lead 5-4 overnight
Returning the next day, the protracted tempo of the tie remained the same, but the drama intensified as the winning line drew nearer.
Former Welsh Open runner-up Woollaston won the opening two frames of the concluding session to go 6-5 in front, and it looked he was heading two clear in frame 12 before Selby managed to lay the snooker he required with only the pink and black remaining on the table. Selby got the necessary penalty points and stole the frame to level up at 6-6.
Despite that disappointment, 37-year-old Woollaston bounced back by taking three of the next four frames to reach the hill first at 9-7 up.
The underdog had a chance to wrap up the win in frame 17 but missed a red into a green pocket. An out-of-sorts Selby subsequently produced an effort of 81 - his only sizeable break of the session - to maintain his hopes and reduce his arrears to one frame at 9-8 down.
Frame 18 was very scrappy, with Selby controlling the first half of it as he built up a small lead. But having previously opened up the reds with a positive safety shot, Woollaston reaped the rewards, constructing a contribution that put him in front.
After an exchange on the final red, Woollaston laid a snooker that Selby failed to escape from and left a freeball. Woollaston potted the green as his extra ‘red’ and coolly sank enough balls to leave his opponent requiring penalty points. It wasn’t long before Selby left the blue on, and instigated a congratulatory handshake.
Selby arrived in Sheffield this year in great form, but like last season when Joe O’Connor defeated him in round one, his campaign ends early at the hands of a player he knows very well from his home city.
Next up for Woollaston is a last 16 date with number 13 seed Si Jiahui.
Speaking to the World Snooker Tour after his late-night triumph, Woollaston said: "Without a doubt it's my best ever win.
“I beat Mark Williams to reach the final of the Welsh Open in 2015 in front of a big crowd. But this is far bigger.
"Mark didn't play his best but that doesn't matter to me, he is still really difficult to beat, especially here. I did a lot of things well, I made a few mistakes but that was bound to happen.
“Mark is the best there has ever been tactically but I stayed tough in the safety battles and that won me the match. People might say his head was gone, but I made it hard for him and that's why he got frustrated.
“It's possible I can go further if I can play better."
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