‘You have got to be joking!’ – Mark Selby loses frame in ‘extraordinary’ circumstances at Welsh Open

Mark Selby made an inexplicable error during his first-round match against Chen Zifan at the Welsh Open. The world No. 1 was in command of the fourth – and what looked like final – frame of the match.

The three-time world champion held a five-point advantage over his opponent but a loose positional shot on the pink left him “handcuffed” to the black, as Dave Hendon on Eurosport commentary put it. Ad/> Given Selby’s prowess in safety, the error should have only represented a minor hindrance towards his progression to round two. However the 38-year-old — while attempting to play safe — rolled the white into the bottom pocket.

/> Welsh Open‘He needed something like that’ – White the beneficiary of incredible fluke36 MINUTES AGO It was a remarkable error – one that gave Chen an unlikely gift, given a foul on the final black automatically hands the frame to your opponent (unless the seven-point foul would result in a tie, then the black is re-spotted). “Woah, woah, woah,” said Joe Johnson on commentary as the white crept towards the pocket. “You are joking aren’t you?” added Hendon.

“You are joking! What a way to lose the frame! That is extraordinary – from Mark Selby of all people. Chen Zifan looks bemused by that but he has got a frame on the board.” Selby would gather himself for the fifth frame to add a run of 70 to previous breaks of 69 and 70 to progress to the next round. ‘The last thing Jimmy needed’ – Robertson admits he ‘felt’ for White during whitewash ‘Not from a coaching manual!’ – Williams goes full Williams with unorthodox safety ‘One of the biggest shocks’ – Snooker world rocked by ‘incredible’ O’Sullivan loss Trump beats Young to join Hawkins and Wilson in second round The world no.