Mark Selby, Shaun Murphy and Neil Robertson seal International Championship qualifying wins, Luca Brecel crashes out

Mark Selby safely booked his spot in the International Championship with an assured 6-3 win over Artemijs Zizins. After picking up the British Open title on Sunday, his first ranking-event triumph in 18 months, ‘The Jester’ compiled breaks of 93, 71, 143, 103 and 82 to come through what was a high-quality match in Sheffield. Shaun Murphy followed suit, but Luca Brecel crashed out.

What a pot! Robertson turns on the style in first frame

Video credit: TNT Sports

Mark Selby continued his fine run of form with a comfortable 6-3 victory over Latvia’s Artemijs Zizins to qualify for November’s International Championship, but former world champion Luca Brecel suffered a shock defeat.

‘The Jester’ ended an 18-month wait for a ranking-event title with an impressive 10-5 win over John Higgins in the final of the British Open on Sunday and picked up where he left off to come through a tricky encounter against Zizins.

Breaks of 93, 71, 143, 103 and 82 saw Selby prevail in a high-quality contest against his 18-year-old opponent, who looks like a promising prospect for the future.

BetVictor Welsh Open

'Does not look impressed' - Lisowski overcomes free ball controversy to beat Bingham

2 hours ago

But Selby, a four-time world champion, ultimately proved too good in the end.

The balls ran awkwardly in the opener before Selby created an opportunity and navigated several tricky reds that had gathered near the top cushion to put together a superb break of 93.

He backed that up with a run of 71 in the next to move 2-0 ahead before Zizins got on the board to make it 2-1.

A stunning 143 total clearance restored Selby’s two-frame cushion going in at the interval, and he made it back-to-back centuries when play resumed.

Zizins won two of the next three with breaks of 59 and 55 to keep his hopes alive, but Selby got over the line with breaks of 50 and 44 in the ninth frame and joins the likes of Judd Trump and Mark Williams in the main draw for the tournament.

murphy moves on as brecel exits

Later on Tuesday, Shaun Murphy moved safely into the next round with a 6-4 win over fellow Englishman Louis Heathcote.

Shanghai Masters runner-up Murphy, ranked No. 8 in the world, had to battle hard for victory after a tight opening to the contest.

Murphy made a statement start with a 125 break in the opening frame, but the two players exchanged frames as Heathcote produced a match-best 130 clearance to draw level at 2-2 in sensational style.

Another century followed for Heathcote in frame seven as he cut the deficit to 4-3 following back-to-back frames for Murphy, but The Magician managed to hold off his opponent and avoid a decider as a run of 51 helped him take frame 10.

Former world champion Brecel's stuttering season continued as he fell at the first hurdle against Jiang Jun of China.

The Belgian Bullet suffered a 6-3 loss to the world No. 77 to ensure his wait for a first title since the 2022/23 World Championship goes on.

Jun opened with back-to-back centuries and never looked back, racing into a 5-2 lead and finishing the job in frame nine after Brecel pulled one back with his match-best clearance of 89.

But English Open champion Neil Robertson eased through with a 6-1 win over Alfie Burden, finishing off with a 100 break, while Barry Hawkins advanced by the same scoreline against Joshua Thomond.

The International Championship runs from November 3-10 and will be live on Eurosport and discovery+.