Yan Bingtao stuns Mark Selby with three-frame burst to book place in quarter-finals of German Masters

Yan Bingtao reeled off three frames on the spin to send Mark Selby crashing out of the German Masters. Selby, who is struggling with his mental health, arrived in Germany looking to cement his place in the Players Championship. Ad/> A win over Yan would have set him on the way to achieving that goal and he was one frame from doing so when leading 4-2.

But Yan produced steely snooker to set up a meeting with Ryan Day in the quarter-finals on Friday evening. German MastersSelby will take time away from snooker if pressures impact on his mental health19 HOURS AGO Trump blows away Zhou to reach German Masters quarter-finals O'Sullivan to miss Turkish Masters, but who does Trump face at inaugural ranking event? The spectators at the Tempodrom were treated to a Selby masterclass in the opener, as he got the better of a sustained safety exchange before knocking in a 48 to move ahead. Runs of 87 and 57 saw Yan move in front, but a half-century from Selby drew him level at the interval.

While granite-like safety is a hallmark of Selby’s play, he is equally adept at making big breaks — as you would expect of a four-time world champion. Selby resumed after the interval with a brilliant 119, and he followed up with a 57 and 51 in the sixth to move within one frame of victory. Yan won a series of final-frame deciders on his run to Masters glory, so is not one to shy away from a fight.

He was on the back foot after Selby’s three-frame run, but responded superbly with a break of 89 to draw within one. The eighth turned into a war of attrition, and Selby was on the receiving end of a lesson in safety play. He kept getting out of tight spots, but Yan knocked in two outrageous doubles on brown and pink to force a decider, with the final