All of the pressure in this match was of course on defending
world champion Mark Selby, with all of the talk about the Crucible curse and
when it might strike. A thundering long pot got him going in the opening frame.
After opening the pack on 33 he was looking good to take the opening frame of
the 2015 World Championships, and he looked in very good touch early doors
compiling a frame winning 84 for a 1-0 lead. The Norwegian representative’s
first chance came from a thin cut in frame two. Kurt had been in fantastic form
to come through three rounds of qualifying straight after making the
semi-finals of the China Open, where he lost out 6-3 to eventual champion
Selby. He was soon in full flow here too, getting on the board thanks to a
heavy contribution of 96 making it 1-1. A large run of the ball was going
Maflins way in frame three. He got in after fluking the red he attempted as a
long pot and then when going into the pack he just avoided knocking a red into
the right corner. From that red the cue ball was running loose until a cannon
left him perfect on the pink and now with a great chance to build another big
break, but he missed that pink with a little bit of awkward bridging to leave
that opening now for Selby. The frighteningly good standard continued as Selby
cleared with a 108 century break to lead 2-1. A very unfortunate safety from
Selby to leave a red over a corner left Kurt the chance to hit back again. The
frame was at his mercy before a bad miss on the pink left him 60 in front with
75 remaining. A poor rest shot meant he wasn’t punished though and he was able
to make the rest of the points required to go into the mid-session interval
level at 2-2.
The standard continued after the break when Selby played a
marvellous red from range to get the first opportunity. His split of the reds
didn’t work out nicely after all of the loose reds had been cleared and he was
forced to play safe with 53 on the board. His second chance came after he
rolled a tricky red into the middle, but after missing the green straight
afterwards there was still room for Kurt to launch a counter attack. He missed
the yellow but then following another failed attempt from Selby he was still
fighting in the frame. Another poor shot cost Kurt though and this time Selby
was able to finish off a sloppy frame to lead 3-2. Maflin was gifted an opening
in frame six after Selby was forced into a red from range which he missed. The
balls were opened up with a very powerful run through shot, but a miss to the
middle again cost him as he only made 44 from a golden opportunity. A super
shot soon had all of the balls away from the side cushion to fully open the
table for a clearance. The pin point positional shot around the table from the
black to the final red proved the frame winner effectively for Selby as the
rest was no problem in a 69 that left Maflin needing a snooker.
In frame seven, a couple of early scoring visits from Maflin
yielded only 31, and when Selby potted a clever cut back with the balls open you
felt that another frame winning effort was on the cards. This time a run of 56
left Kurt needing snookers on the colours which he couldn’t obtain so Selby
guaranteed an end of session lead, 5-2 up with two frames left in the session.
Maflin made 25 from an early opening in frame eight, but his best opportunity
stemmed from a mid-range red and a following yellow along the black cushion.
Once into the pack, the table was open for a frame clinching contribution. The
job was more than completed with a 95 clearance to keep within touching
distance of the defending champion, trailing 3-5. Obviously the final frame of
the session was a hugely important one, as Selby would much rather take a three
frame advantage into the final session, rather than a slender one frame lead
particularly having led by three at 5-2. Mark had a couple of early chances but
only accumulated 25 points from them. A third chance came the Jester’s way, as
he upped his lead to 55 but a miss with awkward bridging left Maflin a chance
to reduce his arrears, only 7 was added and a further red was potted soon but
with no colour to follow he trailed by 47 with 59 remaining. Overall, Kurt’s
safety wasn’t good enough and the final chance Mark was after came to him on a
plate as he won the frame and ended the first session with a more than handy
6-3 lead.
When the players returned for the final session in the
evening, poor tactical play from Kurt gifted Selby a great chance to stretch
his lead further. He made a well controlled 48 in addition to an earlier 18
which proved enough to storm 7-3 in front and it looked like he would get
through easily at this stage. A rare mistake from Selby and a classy red to the
baulk corner from Maflin left him a chance in frame eleven. After an earlier
18, he added quite an easy 49 to leave Selby out of sight and level up the
session, by getting back to just three behind at 4-7. Kurt was still struggling
with his long game as we entered frame twelve and his miss was to Selby’s gain,
leaving him a great opening from which he constructed a beautiful 124 break put
him 8-4 up and he looked in beautiful touch at this stage of the match. After a
long safety battle in the thirteenth Maflin needed to take his chance to stay
in this match essentially. With the reds spread he was in good enough break
building fluency to keep position and a well-made 62 took him into the interval
5-8 behind.
Kurt was in again straight after the interval with a long
pot to give him the chance. He went into the pack twice very early in the break
and without opening too many reds was very lucky to land on red. On 47 he was
not so lucky, going into the reds from the black he managed to knock the first
red he made contact with into the middle pocket. Mark managed to close the gap
so there was just 24 between the two with three reds remaining, initiating a
huge safety battle. Kurt had a huge slice of luck to fluke a snooker behind the
green. After seven consecutive misses Mark was left needing a snooker, 54
points adrift with 51 on and ultimately it cost him the frame as the Norwegian
was two behind at 6-8. Both players had multiple chances at the start of frame
fifteen as the tension started to reflect on both players games. By the time
Mark laid a snooker on the pink, he was 6 points ahead with three reds left on
the table and another important safety battle began. A magnificent red from
range allowed Kurt in to have a chance at the clearance and with the other two
reds positioned nicely by the black and the baulk colours on their spots it
made the clearance simple and the underdog had pulled another frame back to
trail by only one at 8-7. A break in the middle of frame sixteen of 33 from
Maflin put him 36 ahead with 51, as the frame again came down to the last few
reds after both players had chances in the earlier exchanges. An in-off from
Selby followed by some good pots by Maflin was plenty to make it four frames on
the trot now to level the match up overall at 8-8.
Maflin squandered an opportunity in the opening stages of
the seventeenth after missing an easy black, leaving Mark a decent opening.
Selby made 46 and there was plenty more there for the taking before a clanger
of a miss cut his contribution short and allowed his opponent back to the
table. Kurt came right back at Selby with a break of 43 to put him 6 points in
front, but was unable to kill the frame off after failing to nudge the final
red off of the cushion. An in-off from Selby left an easy pot on the final red
for Kurt but he failed to get on the yellow so he had to play safe 13 ahead now.
He won the safety battle again though dropping the yellow into the middle
pocket before a good pot on the stretch on the green down the cushion and the
rest followed to put himself ahead for the first time in the match at 9-8, one
away from knocking out the World Champion. Maflin had the first two scoring
visits in frame eighteen, positional play letting him down though as he only
scored 33 in total from them. The frame opened up after some missed long pots
from Maflin and Mark was left a chance with reds spread at the right end of the
table. In the early parts of the break the positional aspect did not come
easily, but he eventually made 47 to lead by 19 with 35 remaining and having to
play safe on the final red. Kurt wobbled a long effort at the last red and left
it on for Selby, who potted it and the baulk colours to take the match into a
deciding frame at 9-9.
As you would expect in a World Championship first round
deciding frame, things were far from clear cut. Both guys couldn’t complain
about having not had chances in the nineteenth, particularly in the opening
exchanges. After a straightforward red was missed by Maflin, it left a golden
opportunity for the defending champion to stamp his authority on the frame. After
a magnificent pot on the fourth red from last, he then missed a tricky brown
but the bulk of the damage had been done, a run of 43 putting him 50 ahead with
only 51 remaining. Selby then brought the house down with a long red to clinch
the match, and celebrated with a big roar and a fist pump to the crowd, showing
what it meant to get over the first hurdle of his world title defence. After
the handshake there was also a wipe of the brow that Mark did to one of his
friends who he pointed to in the audience. It was a superb battle to come from
8-4 down for the Kurt Maflin to ultimately lead 9-8, but once again the
comeback king Mark Selby fought hard and came through the high pressured
occasion and a classic encounter to win 10-9.
Come back tomorrow to find out which match fell just short of winning.
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