Mark Selby rose to the occasion in front of a home crowd on day three of the 2025 Sportsbet.io Champion of Champions, battling past defending champion Mark Williams in a tense group final to book his place in the semi-finals.
“It was a mad match, really,” said Selby. “I felt good early on and managed to get in front, but Mark dug deep like he always does. Towards the end I probably overthought a few shots and started to feel a bit frazzled, but I just tried to stay strong and keep fighting. To get over the line here in front of the home crowd means a lot.”
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Selby began his day in dominant fashion, cruising past Championship League Snooker winner Stephen Maguire with a flawless 4–0 whitewash to reach the group final. There, he met Mark Williams — who had also looked sharp in his opener, dispatching Alfie Burden by the same 4–0 scoreline to set up a mouthwatering clash between two former world champions.
Williams took control early, edging into a 2–0 lead before Selby responded in trademark style. The Jester from Leicester reeled off four consecutive frames with composed runs of 81, 136, 70 and 70 to turn the match on its head and lead 4–2. But the Welshman refused to go quietly, showing his trademark grit to win three frames on the bounce and move one away from victory at 5–4.
Refusing to surrender, Selby pounced on a missed green from Williams to force a decider with a superb break of 95. In the final frame, a further error from the defending champion left the door open, and Selby kept his composure to seal a dramatic 6–5 win — ending Williams’ hopes of back-to-back titles and booking his own place in the semi-finals.
Selby will now face the winner of tomorrow’s Group, which sees Neil Robertson take on Tom Ford in the opening match, followed by John Higgins against Xiao Guodong.
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