Mark Selby issues angry complaint after World Snooker Championship exit | Other | Sport

A seething Mark Selby complained about the playing conditions during his 13-11 defeat to Chinese star Wu Yize at the World Snooker Championship. The four-time winner was stunned by his opponent, who, at just 22, is enjoying a very impressive tournament in Sheffield.

Selby scored more points and potted more balls than Wu, but could not get the better of the world No. 10, who claimed just his second-ever win at the tournament. The Jester from Leicester looked unsettled for large portions of the contest and let his frustrations out at various stages of the match.

The Englishman rallied but not enough to complete what would have been a very encouraging comeback, going down 13-11 as Wu set up a blockbuster quarter-final with either Judd Trump or Hossein Vafaei.

But Selby could not help but lament the surface at the Crucible, telling the BBC: “I felt like I only played well really in the first session. I played good in the first session, then after that I just missed ball-after-ball.

“Wu’s long game was good, I felt like his safety was good but neither of us really scored that well. Just too many silly errors really.

“Whether it was a lapse in concentration, I am not sure, I felt like the conditions were atrocious really in both matches. The cushions were really bouncing, the tale got re-covered last night and I felt like it played no better than the other sessions.

“That is no excuse, I still missed silly balls and didn’t deserve to win, really.”

While down 66-27 in what ended up being the last frame, Selby rattled a blue into the jaw of the pocket, allowing Wu to eventually pot the remaining red and three of the colours to seal victory.

Wu has received plenty of acclaim from his fellow professionals, with Ronnie O’Sullivan previously describing him as a “more dynamic” version of Steve Davis and Shaun Murphy tipping him to become a future world champion.

“I practised with him for two or three days in Hong Kong,” O’Sullivan said. “It’s not until you practise with someone that you can really appreciate how good they are. After day two, I was like, ‘This kid is really special’.

“I think he is going to be world No 1; I’d give him three years. He’s definitely going to be world champion very, very soon … I’d just love to go and see him fulfil his potential as a professional. I expect him to do a lot of great things in snooker.”

And the young man from Lanzhou now appears to be fulfilling his potential on the grandest of stages.