World No.1 Mark Selby admits he was disappointed with his draw for the Dafabet Masters after being handed a tough first-round match against Mark Williams. The first match of the tournament on Sunday should be a cracker with the duo winning five world titles between them. Selby was drawn against Welshman Williams last year at Alexandra Palace and he won 6-5 thanks to a break of 89 in the last frame.
Williams will be no pushover once again though, with the World No.10 coming into the tournament off the back of a win at the Northern Ireland Open in November. He also beat Selby in round 3 of the Shanghai Masters and the Englishman admits he wanted to avoid his rival in the first round. “Mark was one of the players I wanted to avoid in the draw because he has been playing well,” he told World Snooker. “We had a great match in the first round last year and I’m sure it will be the same this time. “Alexandra Palace is one of the best venues on the circuit and all the players strive to play in the big tournaments in front of big crowds.”
Selby is 4/9 to win, with Williams 17/10 and the former will be expected to win the tournament if he is at his best. However, Selby admits Ronnie O’Sullivan’s participation means it will be very tough to go all the way. He added: “Ronnie is always the man to beat. If he turns up and wants to play snooker then more times than not he performs to a really high level and he’s very difficult to beat. It’s no surprise the way he is playing at the moment.”
Dafabet Masters odds available at Dafabet.