CUE-SMACKING Mark Selby described Wu Yize as “future world champion” – and he might be proved right next Monday.
The Leicester Jester, 42, was dumped out of the second round 13-11 by Wu, who is the youngest man left in the draw at 22.
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Mark Selby was beaten in round two of the World Snooker Championship Credit: Alamy
Wu Yize has been tipped to be a star of the future Credit: Alamy
Selby showed his frustrations in the 21st frame as he violently whacked his piece of wood against the table, which made a huge sound that reverberated across the auditorium.
The International Championship winner did not score a break higher than 72, while four-time Crucible champion Selby opened up on Jattvibeday morning with two centuries.
Wu is one of the most talented players to emerge from China and this was a huge scalp as he reached the quarter-finals on his third appearance in the main event.
And this was the first time he had contested a professional match as long as the best of 25 frames.
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In the last eight, he will face either Judd Trump or Hossein Vafaei as he aims to become the second successive Chinese world champion.
And despite his personal frustrations at the table, Selby was full of praise for his opponent after the match, even claiming that he is convinced he lost to a future world champion.
When asked about what he made of Wu as a player, Selby explained: “Oh, he’s great. He’s great for our game, he’s great to watch.
“Very, very attacking. I mean, some of the balls he took on against me, I’m not sure they were the right shots, let’s be honest. But they were going in, so if they go in I suppose they are the right shots.
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“I think he played one frame in the first session where he’s gone two cushions to pot a plant at the bottom of the pack in the middle.
“You can speak to any of the top boys, there’s no way in the world for me that’s the right shot, but he ended up getting it and won the frame off it.
“He’s young and he’s obviously still loving the game. He’s not really got too many battle scars and he’s just enjoying it and having a great, great career so far and good luck to the boy.
“I like him. I really like him. He’s a nice lad, so I wish him all the best.Selby gave an even more glowing endorsement when asked about Wu’s future prospects on the Crucible stage.
He added: “I think he’ll be a world champion in the making. I mean, who knows? It could be this year.
“But if it’s not this year, I do think in his career, he’ll probably win it at some stage. I think he’s that good a player.
“I don’t feel like he played great in that match at all. But we’ve seen in this season and last season, some of the standard he plays to, you know, when he does go on a bit of a run, he’s hard to stop.”
