World number 30 Joe O’Connor established a surprise 7-2 lead over Mark Selby following the first session of their opening round clash at the Cazoo World Championship.
The clash is the meeting of two Leicester cueman at different stages of their careers, with 40-year-old Selby having amassed 22 ranking titles and 28-year-old O’Connor just four seasons into his professional journey.
O’Connor is this year’s only Crucible debutant. He came through a gruelling qualifying process at the English Institute of Sport. The decisive frame in his 10-8 defeat of Matthew Selt in the final round lasted one hour and 50 minutes, the second longest frame of all-time.
Selby has left himself with a mountain to climb if he is to remain in this year’s event. However, few will discount the four-time World Champion, who has mounted several iconic fightbacks on snooker’s grandest stage.
With the score locked at 2-2, it was O’Connor who stepped up a gear whilst Selby appeared out of sorts. Breaks of 122, 67, 101, 74 and 61 gave him five on the bounce to move just three frames from victory.
They return to play to a conclusion tomorrow afternoon at 2:30pm.