Mark Selby won an enthralling match 6-5 against Mark Williams in the first round of the Dafabet Masters to boost his hopes of holding all three Triple Crown titles simultaneously.
Once again the Alexandra Palace crowd was treated to a dramatic conclusion as this was the fourth consecutive afternoon match to go down to a decider. And Selby, renowned for his calmness under pressure, made a brilliant clearance having benefited from a stroke of bad luck for Williams who got a kick at a crucial moment in the last frame.
World number one Selby goes through to the quarter-finals to face Barry Hawkins on Friday afternoon.
And having won the World Championship in May and the UK Championship in December, Leicester’s Selby is looking to become the first player to have all three Triple Crown trophies on his mantelpiece since Williams himself won all three in the same season in 2002/03.
Welshman Williams won the opening frame with a break of 65 before Selby hit back with 139 – the new target for the £10,000 high break prize – 62 and 109 to lead 3-1. After the interval, Williams battled back to 3-3 and he had a chance to win frame seven but missed the final green, allowing Selby to clear and regain the lead.
A run of 50 gave Williams frame eight and again he had to chance to edge ahead, but missed the brown with the rest late in frame nine, letting Selby clear to go 5-4 up.
Breaks of 53 and 58 from Williams set up the decider, and he had first chance but made just 20 before suffering a kick when attempting to pot the blue to a baulk corner. It missed its target and that proved his last shot as Selby’s clinical 89 saw him home.
Last year’s runner-up Barry Hawkins crushed Shaun Murphy 6-1 in the first round of the Dafabet Masters at Alexandra Palace.
Murphy won this title two years ago but was barely in the match this time as his opponent dominated and stormed into the quarter-finals. In-form Hawkins, who won a group in the Championship League last week, goes through to face Mark Selby on Friday.
World number 12 Hawkins clearly enjoys playing at this venue as he enjoyed a superb run to the final last year – albeit one which ended with a 10-1 defeat against Ronnie O’Sullivan.
Londoner Hawkins won a scrappy opening frame tonight then took the second with a break of 79. Murphy had a chance to win the third from 64-0 down, but missed a tough last red to a baulk corner on 36, and that proved costly as his opponent went 3-0 ahead.
Left-hander Hawkins made smooth runs of 89 and 85 to extend his lead to 5-0. Murphy pulled one back with a thumping long pot on the final pink in frame six. But his hopes of a fight back were soon quashed as Hawkins secured victory in the next with a break of 50.