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Selby soars into Masters quarter-finals after crushing Carter

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Selby produced a dominant display against Carter (Taka G Wu/Alamy Live News)

Mark Selby cruised through to the Masters quarter-finals following a dominant 6-1 rout of Ali Carter at Alexandra Palace.

The Jester is the most successful player in this year’s field, having lifted the trophy three times and reached a further two finals in his first seven appearances at snooker’s most prestigious invitational event between 2008 and 2014.

However, Selby has struggled to maintain that impressive record in the following decade, winning just five of his following 15 matches while failing to progress beyond the quarter-finals.

Nevertheless, after building momentum with some consistent displays during the Championship League last week, he was in fine form on Monday, with breaks of 126, 108 and 93 helping him sweep Carter aside.

“Overall, I can’t complain,” he told BBC Sport. “I think the second frame was big; I was 40-odd behind with the balls really scrappy. I had no right to win that frame and I nicked that one, and I kicked on from there to go 3-0, 4-0.

“I played in the Championship League last week. I know there’s no crowd and not so much pressure, but I felt like I was hitting the ball quite well. It’s nice to actually carry on and take that to a tournament as big as this.”

On his recent Masters record, he added: “I try every year, but the tournament’s so tough. Every match is capable of being a final. It’s not through playing bad snooker, it’s just that my opponents have played better than me on the day. Hopefully, I can carry on playing well and get back [in the semi-finals] again.”

Selby drew first blood with a neat clearance of 62 in the opening frame, though Carter appeared set to level at 44-0 up in the next.

The Captain was aiming to go the extra step at Alexandra Palace, having been a beaten finalist in his two previous appearances in 2020 and 2024.

But he failed to develop the brown when potting the green, which proved costly with Selby clearing to steal the second frame on the black.

The Jester then took full control of the contest with breaks of 108 and 93 putting him 4-0 up at the mid-session interval.

Although, he missed the blue when looking to clear and force a re-spotted black in the fifth frame, allowing Carter to finally stop the rot.

However, Selby moved to the brink of victory with a superb 126 total clearance, before dishing with 53 from 55-14 down in the next frame to book his place in the last eight on the black.

“The debrief was Mark was very good and I was absolutely rubbish,” Carter added. “He does what he does very well, and strangled me a bit really.

“It zapped me of confidence and I just wanted to get out of there in the end. It was very disappointing.”

Earlier in the day, Ding Junhui recovered from 5-4 down to edge out Mark Williams in a deciding frame.

The first four frames were shared in the battle of the former champions, with neither player able to truly catch fire early on.

However, they appeared rejuvenated after the mid-session interval; two-time champion Williams hitting breaks of 70 and 136 to sandwich 2011 winner Ding’s contributions of 64 and 60 and leave the contest finely poised at 4-4.

The Dragon, who had suffered first-round exits in his three most recent Masters appearances, looked set for another when he surrendered a 66-0 lead during frame nine, in which the Welshman recovered to pinch on the black.

Nevertheless, Ding regained his composure with a run of 76 to force a decider, in which a timely 90 got him over the line in a match at Alexandra Palace for the first time in six years.

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Masters Snooker 2025 | Day Two Results

Monday January 13

Round One

Mark Williams 5-6 Ding Junhui
Mark Selby 6-1 Ali Carter