Mark Selby’s indifferent form ahead of the World Championships continued in Romania after he was beaten by Liang Wenbo. The ‘Jester from Leicester’ exited by losing 4-2 to the Chinese player in a scrappy encounter which saw only one break over fifty over the course of the six frames. Selby impressed last year with a record-equalling five ranking titles in a single season but he has been unable to recapture that form in the current campaign. It will no doubt worry Selby ahead of both the China Open and then biggest prize of all – the World Championships at the Crucible, which begin in just over a month’s time.
Selby is 9/2 to win the World Championships outright and Ronnie O’Sullivan is 3/1. Despite the fact the tournament is invitational only, and therefore does not affect ranking points, it is the 34-year-old’s third defeat in four matches, two of them being against Liang.
Liang will take on Stuart Bingham in the second round of the tournament after he beat Australian Neil Robertson 4-3. In a tense match, the 2015 World Champion made a break of 137 to force a deciding frame before nicking it on the colours to progress through to the next round. Elsewhere in the first round, John Higgins will take on Anthony McGill in an all Scottish encounter between the third and 13th place rankings in world snooker. Judd Trump faces the up and coming Belgian Luca Brecel, while Mark Allen completes the days action as he faces Kyren Wilson.