Mark Selby v Jak Jones live stream | World Snooker Championship first round preview

Mark Selby looks to avoid suffering another early exit at the World Snooker Championship when he faces former finalist Jak Jones on Wednesday.

Four-time champion Selby – also a two-time runner-up in Sheffield – is one of the most successful players in Crucible history.

Only Ronnie O’Sullivan, Stephen Hendry (both seven), Steve Davis and Ray Reardon (both six) have triumphed more times at the iconic venue than the Jester.

However, after he was runner-up to Luca Brecel in his sixth World final in 2023, Selby has fallen at the first hurdle in each of the last two years, losing to fellow Leicester cueists Joe O’Connor and Ben Woollaston.

The 42-year-old faces another tricky opening test this year in 2024 finalist Jones, though he arrives in Sheffield off the back of a successful season – in which he has won the Champion of Champions, UK Championship and Championship League invitational event.

Selby did suffer first-round exits at the Welsh Open and Tour Championship, while withdrawing from the World Open, but will still be favourite to progress to the last 16.

Although, he does face a player who, despite just three previous appearances, already boasts impressive Crucible pedigree.

Indeed, Jones has already been to a World final, losing 18-14 to Kyren Wilson two years ago, while he has already beaten three former champions in Judd Trump, Neil Robertson and Stuart Bingham.

The Welshman’s run to the English Open semi-finals represents his best performance of an otherwise quiet season, but he generally comes alive in Sheffield.

After defeating two-time semi-finalist Marco Fu, he beat another former champion to qualify in Luca Brecel, and will now look to claim yet another scalp on the biggest stage in Selby.

A tough first-round tie to call, it promises to be a hard-fought battle over the best of 19 frames, with Wu Yize awaiting the winner in the last 16.

The match breaks off at 10am BST on Wednesday with the opening nine frames, before playing to a finish at 7pm that evening.

How to watch Mark Selby v Jak Jones live stream

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1) Go to Bet365 via this special link

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3) Once registered, go to the sports homepage and select ‘Snooker’ from the left-hand menu

4) Select the play icon next to the match in progress and the stream window will appear

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