Selby survives English Open scare to complete comeback victory

This year's snooker English Open has been a bit of a graveyard for the top names in the sport, as both world number one Zhao Xintong and Neil Robertson were forced to exit the tournament on the very first day. Today the biggest name at Brentwood was Mark Selby, who was facing another potential banana skin in the form of fellow countryman Ricky Walden.

Sunday's British Open final defeat to Jak Jones must have still been fresh on Selby's mind, and the match began with a bit of a snoozefest. Finally a 38-minute opening frame went to Walden, and in a best of 7 match every win is worth it's weight in gold.

Two almost 50-point breaks in the second frame saw Selby level, and "The Jester from Leicester" showed some of his best work in the third. A magnificent clearance of 128 points saw Mark take the lead.

The fourth frame seemed to be going the same way as the previous, until suddenly at 46-0 a mid-range red went awry for Selby. Walden got his chance to make a comeback, but Spider-Man was required to keep it going. Two great recovery shots with perhaps the most challenging rest in the game guaranteed the world's rank 57 a tied scoreline.

Walden continued to impress, and a lead was earned thanks to a fantastic break of 113 which featured a great cannon into the pack via the blue. Ricky was just a frame away from another English Open 1st round upset, but a Selby break of 97 in the following frame was good enough to earn a decider.

As is to be expected, it was a bit of a cagey affair at first. Selby finally broke the deadlock with a fabulous cut into the center pocket from the top baulk. That break wasn't enough for a knockout, but other small breaks featuring some sweet long potting kept creating a bigger and bigger gap for Selby.

Eventually the gap widened enough for Walden to need five snookers. He managed to get two, but a fine performance went without a reward as he was finally forced to shake on the frame and the match.

Selby therefore survives into the 2nd round, where he'll meet Zhang Anda tomorrow. He'll have to be up bright and early though, as the match is slated to begin at 10am British time.

Below are the results from the 1st round in the English Open.







Source: TNT Sports