The World Snooker Tour have responded after Mark Selby criticised the ‘horrific’ state of the Crucible table following his defeat to Wu Yize. Four-time champion Selby drew on his years of experience to push the 22-year-old rising star all the way, but he ultimately fell to a 13-11 defeat.
But following the match, Selby took aim at the Crucible baize, saying: “I felt like I let the table get to me a little bit. The conditions were probably as bad as I’ve experienced here at the World Championships, for sure.
“Even the [first-round] game against Jak Jones, I felt like the table was absolutely horrific. Jak said the same to me. Last night they re-covered it and I still felt it was really heavy and pingy as well.
“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 like the conditions are going to play really good and I’ve played anything but.
“I don’t know what it is because I have my practice table re-covered 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.
“Whether it’s too hot in the arena, I don’t know. You probably have to speak to the table fitters. They do the best job possible they can, but something needs to happen because it’s just so inconsistent from one tournament to the next.
“I got to 11 [frames] and I played absolutely atrocious apart from probably four frames and I don’t think he played great either.
“I was not comfortable with what I was doing and obviously I let everything else get to me and stuff and the table and everything. Yeah, it was just an absolute car crash out there.”
Responding to Selby’s claims, a World Snooker Tour spokesperson said: “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.”