Sky Sports
  • Home
  • Sports
    • Football
    • F1
    • Cricket
    • Rugby Union
    • Rugby League
    • Golf
    • Boxing
    • NFL
    • Tennis
    • NBA
    • Racing
    • Darts
    • Netball
    • MMA
    • More Sports
  • Scores
  • Watch
  • Sky Bet
  • Shop
  • More
    • Podcasts
    • Live on Sky
    • Get Sky Sports
    • Sky Sports App
    • Sky Sports with no contract
    • Kick It Out
    • British South Asians in Football
Watch Sky Sports

Snooker News

News

  • News
  • Schedule
  • Latest Draw
  • Snooker on Sky
  • Photos
  • Video
  • Sky Bet

UK Championship: Mark Selby suffers shock defeat to Iran's Hossein Vafaei in York

World No 1 Mark Selby suffers a shock defeat to Iran's Hossein Vafaei at the York Barbican; Judd Trump and Stephen Maguire progress but Ding Junhui and Mark Williams are beaten

By PA Media

Last Updated: 29/11/21 6:33am

Mark Selby crashed out of the UK Championship
Mark Selby crashed out of the UK Championship

World No 1 Mark Selby crashed out of the UK Championship after suffering a shock 6-2 defeat to Iran's Hossein Vafaei in York.

Vafaei raced into a 5-0 lead with breaks of 105, 69, 55 and 56 before an out-of-sorts Selby won the next two frames to threaten a comeback in the second-round clash.

However, the world champion went in-off when potting the black in frame eight to leave the scores tied at 54-54 and force a re-spotted black which Vafaei eventually fluked after a high-quality safety exchange.

"I think today I was a little bit lucky," Vafaei told Eurosport. "At the end I'm sorry to Mark. He's one of our legends, total respect to him.

"I used to buy their CD's just to watch the game to learn and now I'm playing in front of them. For me it's a big achievement. I was up for it because I said to myself 'how long am I gonna wait?'

"If I'm going to do something this is the age."

Hossein Vafaei caused a real shock at the York Barbican
Hossein Vafaei caused a real shock at the York Barbican

Selby was magnanimous in defeat, saying: "I didn't really get a chance the first two frames, Hossein played great, settled really quickly.

"I probably should have won the third frame, missed an easy black off the spot and had half a chance in the next frame so could have easily been 2-2 at the interval, but after the interval he kicked off great again and thoroughly deserved to win the match.

"I wasn't really at the races and Hossein played well."

  • Murphy unhappy about amateurs in UK Open following defeat
  • Mark Selby: Blood, sweat & tears to one of snooker's greats
  • Kelly Fisher's incredible journey to 9-ball queen

World No 2 Judd Trump had earlier booked his place in the third round with a hard-fought victory over Chris Wakelin.

Trump recovered from 3-2 down to win 6-3 despite being far from his best, the left-hander managing a highest break of 84 and three other half-centuries.

"When you get in a game like that, it goes a bit scrappy and not how I want the game played, you've just got to dig in," Trump told BBC Sport.

"A lot of things didn't go my way but you've just got to try your absolute hardest and never give up.

"There were a couple of frames I chucked away, there were a couple of distractions. It's hard when there's so many tables going on at once and you've got people leaving.

"It's good to have the crowds back but there are a lot more distractions."

Scotland's Stephen Maguire thrashed China's Tian Pengfei 6-1, but three-time winner Ding Junhui lost 6-3 to Sam Craigie.

Mark Williams was beaten 6-5 by Anthony Hamilton while Anthony McGill saw off David Grace 6-4.

Twitter Due to your consent preferences, you’re not able to view this Privacy Options

The most exciting match of the day saw China's Zhao Xintong defeat Thailand's Thepchaiya Un-Nooh 6-5 in a high-scoring contest.

Zhao trailed 3-0 before rattling off five frames in a row with breaks of 120, 114, 50, 92 and 56, but Un-Nooh fought back to force a decider which Zhao eventually won 73-66 on the black.

Also See:

  • Pool legend Strickland does not care what Europe think of him
  • Earl 'The Pearl' returns to Mosconi Cup for Team USA
  • Mosconi Cup returns to Alexandra Palace in December
  • The UK Open pool tournament to launch on Sky Sports

Ricky Walden completed a 6-3 win over Li Hang with a break of 129, while there were also wins for Cao Yupeng, Xiao Guodong and Zhou Yuelong over Martin Gould, Robert Milkins and Ashley Hugill respectively.

For those on the move, we will have the Snooker & Pool season covered via our website skysports.com/more-sports, our app for mobile devices, or our Twitter account @skysportspool for latest news and reports.

Related Stories

Zhao Xintong claimed the UK Championship at the York Barbican

Zhao Xintong craving karaoke following UK Championship win

Shaun Murphy was unhappy after his exit from the UK Open

Murphy unhappy about amateurs in UK Open following defeat

Neil Robertson is a three-time winner of the UK Snooker Championship

Robertson to start UK Championship defence against Astley

Videos

'Absolutely bonkers!' | Reilly becomes first person in the world to land new BMX tricks!

'Didn't touch the sides!' | Gorst with the golden break!

'I have no words!' | Emotional Chadwick claims historic Indy NXT win

Atwood shares how his great grandmother dealt with segregation

'Wow! Simply sensational!' - USA sink golden break in Mosconi Cup thriller

  • Home
  • Sports
    • Football
    • F1
    • Cricket
    • Rugby Union
    • Rugby League
    • Golf
    • Boxing
    • NFL
    • Tennis
    • NBA
    • Racing
    • Darts
    • Netball
    • MMA
    • More Sports
  • Scores
  • Watch
  • Sky Bet
  • Shop
  • More
    • Podcasts
    • Live on Sky
    • Get Sky Sports
    • Sky Sports App
    • Sky Sports with no contract
    • Kick It Out
    • British South Asians in Football
  • X
  • Facebook
  • TikTok
  • Instagram
  • YouTube
  • WhatsApp
  • Partners
    • Sky Bet
    • Super 6
    • TEAMtalk.com
    • Football365.com
  • Sky Sports Channels
    • Sky Sports Main Event
    • Sky Sports Premier League
    • Sky Sports Football
    • Sky Sports+
    • Sky Sports Cricket
    • Sky Sports Golf
    • Sky Sports Darts
    • Sky Sports Tennis
    • Sky Sports NFL
    • Sky Sports News
    • Sky Sports Racing
    • Sky Sports Mix
  • More Sky Sites
    • Sky.com
    • Sky News
    • Sky Go
    • Sky Group
    • Sky For Businesses
    • Sky Partnerships
    • Sky Impact
    • Store Locator
    • Advertise With Us
  • Terms & Conditions
  • Privacy & Cookies Notice
  • Privacy Options
  • Accessibility Information
  • Contact Us

Sky Sports Channel Logo ©2025 Sky UK