Mark Selby displayed his sportsmanship when he gave up the opportunity of a free ball against Judd Trump in the UK Championship final. Selby, 42, was at the Barbican in York, looking to lift the 16th triple crown event of his career.
He was sitting pretty in the final leading the World No. 1 7-3 in frames. While trailing Trump by 14 points in the 11th frame, Selby floored his opponent with an exceptional snooker. The Ace in the Pack failed in his bid to hit the red, but the white landed in a position where the yellow was slightly obstructing its path to the red. After referee Olivier Marteel took a lengthy look at Selby’s route to the white, he decided the Jester from Leicester could take a free ball.
But instead of following the decision, which Trump was visibly irked by, Selby decided to play the cue ball where it lay and give up the opportunity of a free ball. When the world No. 11 decided to not take the free ball, the referee held up his hands and said: “I stand corrected.”
His call prompted respectful applause from the Barbican audience. Selby’s true colours were fully on display, as he could’ve chosen to not say anything and take what would have been a good advantage.
Had he taken it, he would have surely gone on to win the frame and move to a commanding 8-3 lead, just two frames away from victory. Snooker icon Steve Davis felt Selby had every right to take the free ball and therefore take control of the frame.
Davis said: “It was a free ball. The referee got it right. The closest you could get to the yellow meant you couldn’t hit the extreme edge of the right hand side of the red.”
Not only did Trump go on to win the frame, he narrowed the deficit to 7-5. Selby did go on to take the 13th frame to move 8-5 ahead and move one step closer to the title.
He was unstoppable in the afternoon session accelerating into a 5-0 lead while also finding himself 7-2 ahead later on. But Trump, who was defending his title one year after overcoming Barry Hawkins in the final, narrowed the deficit to 7-5, to ensure an exciting finish.
The World No. 1 then completed a break of 125 to move to 6-8 in the showpiece. For the latest on the latter stages of the match, Express Sport is following the final and providing readers with live score updates.