Masters Day 4

Mark Selby's emphatic comeback saw him go from 5-1 down
to beat Stuart Bingham 6-5. Image: Press Association

A heroic comeback from Mark Selby saw him pull back a 5-1 deficit to Stuart Bingham to defeat him 6-5. Although Selby had taken the first frame, a confident Bingham won the next three before the interval with a top break of 78. Bingham also scooped frames five and six to go 5-1 up and a seemingly inevitable victory. However a 57 break in frame seven from Selby and the Leicester man also took the eighth to plant seeds of doubt in Bingham’s mind. Selby’s game continued to improve and he hit breaks of 86 and 68 in the next two to incredibly force a final frame decider. Breaks of 24 and 22 put Selby ahead in the decider but he missed a pink on that second break, leaving Bingham a chance. However the Basildon man missed a red into left middle allowing Selby to complete his incredible comeback.

Earlier in the day, Mark Williams completed a comeback of similar proportions as he also won five frames on the bounce to comeback from 4-1 down to beat Matthew Stevens 6-4. Both players struggled in the opening encounters but it was Williams who seemed to be struggling the most. Stevens took the first two closely-contested frames and also won the third although he’d have been disappointed at gifting the fourth to Williams by missing the final brown. A 67 break in frame five put Stevens 4-1 up but he missed brown again in frame six, allowing his compatriot to pull another frame back. It was then 4-3 after Williams knocked in 59 and when Stevens miss-cued on the final red in frame eight, the scores were levelled at 4-4. A 68 break in frame nine put Williams ahead for the first time in the match and another missed pot by Stevens, this time on the black, allowed Williams to secure victory. He’ll now face Selby in the Quarter-Finals.