Selby held a healthy overnight lead. He moved one frame away from the win when he recorded a break of 91. He had a break of 56 in the next frame only to miss a red, Robertson took control and won the frame. The Aussie won the next two frames, however, he missed an easy enough black which allowed thee Jester from Leicester back in to take the frame and the match.

Selby said following the win, “Over the last 12 to 18 months I was questioning myself. I had got so used to winning tournaments then when I wasn’t winning tournaments it became very damaging to my confidence”. “I was happy with my performance against Neil. I felt if I got a chance I could score, and my safety play was back up with how it was a few years ago”.  Robertson was obviously disappointed with the defeat and said, “It was a really tough game and apart from three or four frames in the match, every frame came down to the final few reds or the colours. “Mark’s defensive safety was absolutely unbelievable. He didn’t let up really and I think he got his game plan spot-on over over the two days”.

In other games 2019 World Champion Judd Trump exited the championship after a 13-9 defeat to Kyron Wilson. In fact, it comes as no surprise given that no returning champion has yet to win back to titles since 1977. Trump reduced the gap down to two frames having registered three 50+ breaks in four frames. However, Kyron moved just a frame away after winning frame 21 with two visits. Then came a break of 104 to round of a fantastic win.

Five time World Champion Ronnie O’Sullivan levelled proceedings in his game with Mark Williams. The Rocket pegging back the Welsh man to level the game 8-8. O’Sullivan trailed Williams 7-2 at one period in the game, but won four frames on he bounce to edge his way back into contention.

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O’Sullivan stated that “The standard of snooker is so bad that he” would have to lose and arm and a leg to slip down the rankings”. He beat Ding Junhui  on Sunday 13-10 to set up a quarter-final clash with Mark Williams. However, O’Sullivan was having none of it in the interview and lost a an attack on the next generation of players stating “If you look at the younger players coming through, they’re not that good really”. He said that most of them would so well as amateurs or not even amateurs they’re so bad a lot of them.

Ronnie O’Sullivan just straight up brutal on the reason for his longevity in snooker pic.twitter.com/4bL5FAd1Cs

— James Dart (@James_Dart) August 9, 2020

O’Sullivan who was last crowned World Champion in 2013 continued, “A lot of them you see now, you think, cor, I’ve probably got to lose an arm and a leg to fall outside the top 50. So that’s why we’re hovering around – because of how poor it is down that end.” In the interview O’Sullivan also stated that “while he still playing snooker he wants to enjoy it”. Stating that he didn’t care if he won or lost at this stage is in career.

The man effectively known as “The Rocket” for his quick playing said he would rather the tournament in the K2 leisure centre in Crawley. However, O’Sullivan has described the venue as a “hellhole” in the past. He said, “To be honest I prefer the format of Crawley because it’s the best of seven, so it’s a quick in-and-out. “Here it’s a great venue but it’s bit hectic and a bit stressful. I’d rather take the Crawley option to be honest with you.”

The Wordsley born star raced into two frames clear with breaks of 87 and 73. However, his Chinese opponent responded with a break of 88 after O’Sullivan missed a black. O’Sullivan went into a 11-9 lead with a 60 break, only for Ding to make a break of 81. However, the Rocket then rolled off a century, with 117 and nearly made it two in a row in the next frame with a break of 93.

O”Sullivan will now face fellow veteran Mark Williams in the last eight.

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The Rocket who is 5 time World champion stormed into a 8-1 frame lead after just 82 minutes of the match in the first session on Sunday. He needed just two more frame and he returned to get them on Monday to wrap up a record breaking win and to smash Shauna Murphy’a record of 149 minutes.

Thepchaiya had the chance to prolong the defeat in the second session on Monday but he missed an easy enough red to let O’Sullivan in to make a clearance of 93. He just needed one frame to secure a place in Round 2 against Ding Junhui. O’Sullivan made two further breaks of 41 and 48 in that final frame to secure the win. Speaking after the match O’Sullivan said, “I’m not really bothered by records – I stopped bothering about records when I reached them and they didn’t really give you that buzz for very long”.

O’Sullivan caused controversy last week when he said that players were treated as “lab rats” over the decision to have a limited crowd at the venue. However, he seemed a bit more relaxed around the situation when asked, he said,” I prefer it – I don’t have to deal with the pressure and expectation of the crowd and getting in and out of the venue.”

The World Snooker tour have also announced a new schedule for events as China will not be allowed host any sporting events till 2021. This will mean the Shanghai Masters, the International Championship and World Open will now be played at a later date due to the Covid 19 pandemic. This means that UK tournament and European have been brought forward. The Championship League will be played now across three legs in September and October and will become a ranking event.

The European Masters will now take place in January. The Shoot Out will take place between October 29th and November 1st. This was held in February previously. The Champion of Champions competition will then run from November 2nd to November 8th. All events in the UK will remain as normal apart from the Welsh Open which will take place before the turn of the year. The UK Championship will remain as scheduled with the final on December 8th.

Of course with the pandemic still ongoing the venues have to be confirmed due to the  uncertainty over when spectators will be permitted to return. The Chairman of World Snooker Barry Hearne said, “In recent months there has been uncertainty for all sports in terms of future events, but we have worked alongside all of our partners to find solutions”. “Our players and fans will be thrilled to see that we have a packed schedule for the first half of 2020-21”.

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