Matthew Selt beats John Higgins to set up Stephen Hendry clash: 2011 Australian Goldfields Open
Englishman Matthew Selt pulled off a major upset in the 2011 Australian Goldfields Open when he defeated the current world snooker champion, John Higgins, by 5-4 in round one.
The match was a tussling encounter that ended in a decider frame, which resulted in Selt’s favour. Selt will next face the legendary Stephen Hendry in his second round clash at the Bendigo Stadium arena in Victoria.
World number two Scotland’s John Higgins definitely didn’t see that coming when his opponent, world number 43 Matthew Selt, brought him down in the first round of the Australian major ranking event.
On the other hand, Selt must be quite happy with his performance against Higgins in the opening round of 2011 Australian Goldfields Open. The Englishman had not been in the televised stage of any major ranking event for a year. But this season, his luck
embraced him when he got into the event owing to the withdrawal of Ronnie O’Sullivan and he cashed it in with a splendid victory over Higgins by 5-4.
After his impressive win over the world champion, Selt spoke to the media, “I've just won my first match on tv and now I feel like a proper player. If I play well this week I can go all the way and this has given me the belief that I can do it. After frame
one I felt really good but was then devastated to be 4-1 down. I had a couple of bad bounces and mistakes and you can't make them at this level.”
He added, “In the last frame it was tied up and John is the master tactician, he is the best, so I was getting concerned. I was sitting there thinking if I lose, I lose but I've got myself back from being 4-1 down against John. I knew I could compete at
this level and career wise beating John is a great achievement.”
The Romford cueman will next go one-on-one against former seven-time world snooker champion, Stephen Hendry, in his second round clash at the Bendigo Stadium arena in Victoria.
Tags: