Welsh Open 2023: In-form Robert Milkins stuns weary Mark Selby to make last-16 in Llandudno

Robert Milkins is through to the last-16 of the Welsh Open after he stunned a weary Mark Selby 4-2 in Llandudno. It was an error-strewn display from Selby, who was playing his third consecutive late session of the week, and the in-form Milkins — despite not being at his best – would take full advantage. Ad Milkins' reward for his first victory over Selby since 2011 is a meeting with Barry Hawkins or Hossein Vafaei on Thursday evening.

Welsh OpenSelby swerves upset against Si in late-night showdownA DAY AGO «It weren’t a very good game, really — none of us were at our best,» Milkins reflected in the Eurosport studio. «I was lucky Mark was out of form, really. He missed quite a few balls.

I seemed to be jabbing at a lot of shots tonight, I don’t know why. »I felt alright last frame. That was it, you know.

It wasn’t great, but obviously, I’m ecstatic to get through." Selby made a bright start to the match, pouncing on a safety error by Milkins, making a break of 92 and although he just missed out on a century, he was up and running. Selby would have been disappointed not to win the second frame, too; after getting back in amongst the balls, he missed a sitter of a red to left centre, and he still couldn’t put the game to bed after Milkins spurned two huge opportunities. Selby knew his luck was out when he escaped from a snooker behind the pink only to suffer the misfortune of potting the white, and Milkins cleared up to level at 1-1.