Mark Selby sees English Open snooker title defence ended by Martin O’Donnell – ‘I could see Mark was struggling’
Mark Selby’s English title defence is over after the four-time world champion lost 4-2 to Martin O’Donnell in a shock defeat in the last 64 at the Brentwood Centre.
It was a first professional victory for O’Donnell against last week’s British Open finalist, who had lost all six of his previous meetings with the Leicester player.
Some superb long-range potting proved key to the victory against a jaded-looked Selby, who was forced to play two matches in a day after overcoming Zihao Xing 4-1 earlier on Tuesday.
Selby had lifted the English Open title last December with a 9-6 win against Luca Brecel.
“I could see Mark was struggling a bit towards the end of his match this afternoon,” O’Donnell told reporters. “But he’s a marathon man, he has won the world title four times and he has got more stamina than anyone else in the game.
“If anyone can dig out a result when he is tired, it’s Mark. I took nothing for granted, kept my focus all the way through and tried to put pressure on him. The TV table was lovely, a joy to play on. I don’t get to play on that table often, and when I do it’s usually against an absolute machine.
“It was nice to pot some long balls and create chances. I will go to bed buzzing tonight, but there is no point beating Mark and then losing in the next round.
“Tomorrow is another today, and I need to be on top of my game otherwise I’ll be going home. It’s a fresh start for me this season. The tournaments are coming thick and fast now and tonight’s result gives me some momentum.”
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Elsewhere, 2006 world champion ended the hopes of European Masters holder Barry Hawkins with a 4-2 win. Hawkins made 134 in the fifth frame, but knocks of 83, 66 and 56 helped Dott finalise his last-32 spot.
Oliver Lines built on his 4-3 win over Kyren Wilson with a 4-1 win against Martin Gould, while UK champion Mark Allen reached the last 32 with a 4-1 triumph against Wu Yize.
Welsh Open champion Robert Milkins completed a 4-3 victory against Adam Duffy that saw him run in breaks of 54, 129 and 64 as he came from 3-2 behind to reach the third round.
Latest English Open results
- Robert Milkins 4-3 Adam Duffy
- Graeme Dott 4-2 Barry Hawkins
- Stephen Maguire 4-2 Louis Heathcote
- Martin O’Donnell 4-2 Mark Selby
- Mark Davis 4-2 David Lilley
- Gary Wilson 4-3 Dominic Dale
- Oliver Lines 4-1 Martin Gould
- Elliot Slessor 4-2 Ryan Davies
- Sanderson Lam 4 -0 Stuart Carrington
- Luca Brecel 4-1 Andy Hicks
- Mark Allen 4-1 Wu Yize
- Hossein Vafaei 4-3 Julien Leclercq
- Judd Trump 4-1 Scott Donaldson
- He Guoqiang 4-3 Ryan Day
- John Higgins 4-2 James Cahill
- Ding Junhui 4-1 David Grace
- Cao Yupeng 4-0 David Gilbert
- Mark J Williams 4-0 Ian Burns
- Mark Selby 4-1 Xing Zihao
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