"World Snooker Star Slams 'Pathetic' Performance and 'Absolutely Horrific' Crucible Conditions"

MARK SELBY has slammed the table conditions at the Crucible following his second-round exit to Wu Yize.

The Jester from Leicester fell to a 13-11 defeat at the hands of the Chinese youngster – who at 22 is the youngest cueist left standing in .

Mark Selby moaned about the table conditions after his defeat to Wu Yize Credit: Alamy

But following his Worlds shock, a fuming Selby blasted the Crucible baize, claiming that the conditions were the worst he had played at the tournament.

When asked about his performance, Selby said: “Yeah, just pathetic really. First session I played good, played some good stuff and then after that, yeah, it was rubbish.

“Just concentration all over the place, just in and out, you know, not trying different things, but I was trying different tempos and stuff.

“I was trying to get on with it and then I was missing a silly ball and I thought, right just take your time and then I’ll miss a silly ball and I was just all over the place in the end.

“But I felt like I let the table get to me a little bit, felt like the conditions were probably as bad as I’ve experienced here at the World Championships for sure. Even the game against Jak Jones, I felt like the table was heavy and pingy.

“Even last night they re-covered it, so I thought, ‘oh, I look forward to coming into today’ and I still felt it was really heavy and pingy as well.

“Obviously I still missed more than too many balls to even win that match, so that’s not the reason why I’ve lost, but it’s just disappointing to come to a tournament which is the pinnacle of our sport and you think the conditions are going to play really good and I’ve played anything but.”

Selby’s frustrations were on open display towards the end of the clash, with the rattled world No7 missing a number of makeable shots on his way out of the competition.

But the scenes reached a dramatic climax in the 21st frame, when Selby violently after missing a routine red into the corner.

Perhaps he had taken a few too many tips from his compatriot on the other side of the divider, who rattled his own cue against his table moments before to rival .

When asked about the reasoning behind his outburst, Selby continued: “A combination of everything, just missing silly balls, the table got to me as well.

“Even a shot there in the last frame, I played a safety shot before (Wu) has potted the long red and it’s pinged off the bottom cushion, pinged off the top cushion. I’ve hit the safety shot, all right, next minute, I’m leaving him the white in the D and it can’t possibly land there!

“And obviously he’s potted long balls for fun all match. So I knew that I had to try and keep him tight, but it’s difficult when you don’t know how the balls are going to come off the cushion either.

“My first game against Jak Jones, I felt like the table was absolutely horrific.

Selby claims that previous opponent Jak Jones was also unhappy with the table Credit: Getty Selby smashed his cue in frustration at one point in the match Credit: PA Wu won 13-11 to book his spot in the World Snooker Championship quarter-finals Credit: Alamy

“Jak said the same to me as well. We came out and he said to me, ‘is it me or is the table just really heavy and bouncy?’

“And I said, ‘well, yeah, it’s terrible.’ And then once it got re-covered, you think obviously the cushions are good.

“Normally, when a table gets re-covered, the cushions play slower and it sinks into the cushions. Well, this has just constantly stayed the same.

“You know, I don’t know what table one’s playing like, but table two, the five sessions I’ve played on it, it’s not played good at all, no.”

Selby admitted he was not sure what measures were needed to address the situation, but demanded change in order to make conditions at the tournament more stable.

He added: “I don’t know what it is because I have my practice table recovered quite a lot of the time and it never, ever plays to the level of that, especially like how it just flies off the cushions.

“You probably have to speak to the table fitters, but yeah, it was tough.

“Listen, they do the best job they can possibly do. But something needs to happen because it’s just so inconsistent from one tournament to the next.”

World Snooker Tour have since issued their own statement, which reads: “There are always challenges in providing the best possible conditions for players as there are many factors which affect this.

“Our dedicated team of table fitters work tirelessly in delivering the best possible conditions and they are constantly monitoring the tables. We have systems in place where players can give feedback after every match.”