Ronnie O’Sullivan has suggested that a new cue tip could’ve been the source of Mark Selby’s frustration during his agonising loss to Ben Woollaston on Thursday at the Snooker World Championship. Four-time winner Selby, renowned for his calm demeanour, labelled his performance ‘pathetic from start to finish’ in a post-match interview after he was beaten 10-8.
After losing the 13th frame, Selby chucked the yellow ball to the other end of the table in a rare outburst. Having won the World Championship in 2014, 2016, 2017 and 2021, the 41-year-old became the third former Crucible winner to be knocked out in round one, following Neil Robertson and defending champion Kyren Wilson.
O’Sullivan, who was on punditry duties for the night, theorised that Selby’s frustration may’ve stemmed from using a new cue tip. “We don’t know if he’s got a new tip on, but if he has then it can be a kind of excuse,” seven-time Crucible champion O’Sullivan told TNT Sports after previously predicting that Selby would be ‘a match for anybody’ following a good season.
“We don’t know but I am assuming it is as there have been so many mistakes from him. When he left that yellow over the pocket it was a complete mis-hit, which he never, ever does.
“When your tip is not right, your confidence goes, you just start to lose confidence in your cue and tip, and it can just get worse and worse. He’s annoyed, he’s frustrated, he’s just angry. You never normally see that with Selby.”
It’s the second time in two years that Selby has been beaten in the the first round of the World Championship by a friend from Leicester. Last year, he lost 10-6 to qualifier Joe O’Connor.
After Thursday’s shock defeat to Woollaston, a dejected Selby admitted: “I was pathetic from start to finish, I didn’t show up and didn’t deserve to win. I didn’t score well enough when I got chances. Ben’s safety was unbelievable at times and had me in trouble. I love him to bits, I grew up with him and have seen him progress.
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“Sometimes I just try too hard and stop myself from playing. I can’t put my finger on why that happens. I know I won tournaments but to finish like this puts a dampener on the season because my goal is to win more Triple Crowns, so this is very disappointing.”
It was a different story for Woollaston, who 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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