Blast from the past: Mark Williams vs Mark Selby in 2010-11 snooker season – Part two
The German Masters 2011 (February 2-6), was the only ranking tournament in which Mark Williams and Mark Selby played against each other. The event was held after 12 years of its dormancy. It took place last time in 1998 as a non-ranking tournament. John
Parrott clinched the title beating Mark Williams 6-4 in the final.
Players Tour Championship 2010-11 Grand Finals
Both Williams and Selby moved to the Republic of Ireland for the PartyCasino.com Players Tour Championship (PTC) 2010-11 Grand Finals. It was the first tournament in the Republic of Ireland, since 2005. Mark Selby crashed Mark Williams 3-4 in the PartyCasino.com
PTC 2010-11 Grand Finals at the Helix Theatre in Dublin, Ireland, on Saturday, March 19, 2011.
The Jester from Leicester took the scrappy first frame 76-10 potting a decent break of 66, after he was 10-10 level with the Welshman. The former two-time world champion, Williams, bounced back in the second frame and clicked a 0-33 early lead in the frame.
Before he could add more, a stunning 59 break from Selby brought him 59-33 down. Selby eventually grabbed the second frame 79-34, with the addition of a small break of 20 in the end and secured a 2-0 lead over the 2010 China Open champion, Williams.
The 27-years-old Selby’s two-frame lead definitely put the 2006 Pot Black champion, Mark Williams, under a lot of pressure. The 36-years-old Williams came back strongly in the next session of the game and swept the table brilliantly with his scintillating
potting skills.
The three-time China Open champion (2002, 2006 and 2010), Williams, completely outplayed Selby in the later part of the game as he snatched three consecutive frames with frame scores of 17-60, 19-68 and 31-58 respectively, to nudge the 2008 Welsh Open champion
2-3 down. No major breaks were built by the Welsh Potting Machine in these frames except for some small decent ones.
The pressure was put back on the Englishman by Williams as he moved within three frames straight over the 2011 German Masters runner-up, Selby. The three-time Thailand Masters champion (1999, 2000 and 2003), Williams, increased pressure as he managed to
pick a 0-17 quick lead in the sixth frame. A decent break of 24 from Selby, after the Welshman choked, brought him 28-17 up.
The two-time Welsh Open champion (1996 and 1999), struck hard later in the frame and with an impressive break of 32 he again led the frame score 28-49. The 2007 World Snooker Championship runner-up, Selby, sprang back into the match and snatched the frame
72-49 after he gave in a superb winning break of 38 to drag the match into a decider frame.
The last frame of the best-of-seven frames match was a topsy-turvy affair as the two-time Grand Prix winner (1996 and 2000), Williams, choked six times giving in 27 foul points. Williams lost the frame 104-42 and the match 4-3, despite his 42 in the decider
frame, after Selby caught a stroke and added a couple of small breaks of 38 and 39, respectively.
Snooker Championship League 2011 winners group
Both Williams and Selby were promoted to the winners group of Snooker Championship League 2011 as they won the finals matches of their respective groups – Selby led group one and Williams topped group two. They played their winners-group match on Wednesday,
March 23, 2011. Mark Williams trashed Mark Selby 3-1 in that game.
The two-time Masters champion (1998 and 2003), Williams, stole a 1-0 early lead as he swept the table 76-28, in the first frame. The 2010 six-red World Champion, Selby, equalised the game scores 1-1 after he grabbed the second frame 33-84 with a decent small
break of 33. The 2010 PTC Event 1 winner, Williams, finished the game easily taking back-to-back frames with frame scores 75-0 and 63-24 respectively, after he pocketed two cracking breaks of 54 and 62 in the respective frames.
Overall Performance in 2010-11 season
Mark James Williams
Welshman, Mark J Williams occupies the Number Two spot in the world snooker rankings 2010-11 and number six spot in the PTC order of merit 2010-11. So far, he has grabbed 18 ranking titles including two world championships (2000 and 2003).
The 36-years-old Welsh cueist has participated in 56 matches of ranking events in the 2010-11 season including two walkovers. He holds a match winning percentage of 73.2 percent, as he has won 41 matches in the current season. His frame winning rate is 61.6
percent because he could grab 225 frames out of the 365 that he played in this season.
Mark Anthony Selby
English cueman, Mark A Selby, also known as The Jester from Leicester and Mark the Shark, has won only one ranking event in his professional career, the 2008 Welsh Open. He is ranked at Number Four in the World Snooker Rankings 2010-11, revised after the
2011 Welsh Open and at number two in the PTC order of merit 2010-11.
Selby, 27, played a total of 67 matches in the current season’s ranking tournaments and won 50 out of them. His match winning percentage is 74.6 percent, while his frame winning ratio is 61.8 percent as he clinched 261 frames out of the 422 he played during
this season.
Williams and Selby are now heading towards China to participate in the China Open 2011 which starts on March 27, 2011. Williams is defending the title he snatched from Chinese cueist, Ding Junhui, 10-6, last year. The event is taking place at the Peking
University Students Gymnasium, in Beijing, China. Both will meet in a possible semi-final clash in the tournament.
They also have their places in the last-32 of Betfred.com World Snooker Championship 2011. Selby will face Jimmy Robertson, while Williams is going to meet compatriot, Ryan Day, in their initial matches of the mega event. The championship runs from April
16 to May 2 at the Crucible Theatre, in Sheffield, England.
Tags: