Mark Selby scored just his second MrQ Masters match win in five years, thrashing Robert Milkins 6-1 to make the quarter-finals at Alexandra Palace.
The Jester from Leicester is a three-time winner of the event, having lifted the famous Paul Hunter Trophy in 2008, 2010 and 2013. He was also runner-up in 2014, but the years which followed have seen Selby struggle in snooker’s biggest invitational tournament. He’s not been beyond the quarters in his last nine attempts.
If four-time World Champion Selby is to make the semi-finals this year, he will have to get past last season’s Player of the Year Mark Allen. Selby and Allen could hardly be closer matched in the head-to-heads, which stand at 8-8 with eight of those encounters coming down to deciding frames.
Defeat for Milkins means a disappointing return to the Masters stage. It was the first time he’d appeared at Alexandra Palace in nine years. He’s still seeking a first Masters match win, having lost against Ronnie O’Sullivan in 2014 and Neil Robertson in 2015.
Selby controlled the opener this evening, before firing in a superb 119 to take the second. It was soon 3-0 after the 22-time ranking event winner made a frame winning 53 in the third.
Both players spurned straightforward reds in the next. Selby swiped the air with frustration after a disturbance from backstage during his shot and Milkins dropped his cue to the floor after failing to step in. Eventually Selby stepped up with 63 to make it 4-0 at the mid-session.
When play resumed Milkins showed a glimpse of what he can do with a fine 88 to reduce his arrears. However, Selby forced himself over the line with breaks of 70 and 74 to wrap up a one-sided victory.
“He’s not been here for nine years, so it is tough to come back into that dragon’s den. He had a good chance in the first frame after I missed an easy black. If he wins the frame there he settles and it is a totally different game. Thankfully he missed, I settled first and managed to kick on from then. "
Mark Selby
Number Five Seed
Selby added: “Mark (Allen) is a class act. He’s very similar to myself. He doesn’t give you too much, his safety game is very good and he scores as well as anyone when he’s on it. I’m expecting a really tough match.
“When you’ve been doing it for so long, you still feel nervous at the start and the end, in between you block it all out. It is easier to do that more than people who haven’t been doing it for that long. Me and Mark have been batting for years and years.”