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World champion Mark Selby taken to deciding frame by Kurt Maflin

Mark Selby World Championship
Image: Mark Selby: Needed 19 frames to beat Kurt Maflin in Sheffield

Defending champion Mark Selby was given a World Championship first-round scare on Saturday, edging past Kurt Maflin 10-9 in a match that lasted more than six hours at the Crucible Theatre.

No first-time champion in Sheffield has returned to retain the trophy 12 months, now known as the 'Crucible curse', but breaks of 84, 108, 53, 69 and 56 in the afternoon session helped Selby to a 6-3 lead, before Maflin hit back in stunning fashion in the evening.

The world No 38, who was born in Lewisham but resident in Oslo for the last decade and now a Norwegian citizen, won five straight frames to take a 9-8 lead before Selby rediscovered his composure to secure progress to the second round.

"I had a chance in the decider, didn't take it and he deserved to win," said Maflin. "He's so tough to beat and he was the better player on the day.

"I was quite calm out there all day. I'm happy, I just wish it had gone the other way."

Meanwhile, John Higgins looked sharp in building a 6-3 overnight lead over Robert Milkins, the Gloucester player who came through a nerve-jangling final-frame decider against Andrew Higginson on Wednesday to qualify.

Four-time world champion Higgins raced into a 5-1 lead with breaks of 41, 72, 64, 62 and 47 only for Milkins to hit back and when he led 58-0 in the ninth frame at 5-3, he looked firmly back in the match, only for a missed pink to give Higgins hope, which the Scot seized in two scoring visits to restore a three-frame lead. 

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They play to a finish on Sunday night, as do Higgins' fellow Scots Anthony McGill and Stephen Maguire.

An absorbing opening session between the Glaswegian pair ended dramatically, with McGill fluking the snooker he required in the ninth frame, gaining a free ball, and clearing as far as the pink to set up a 6-3 lead.

Watch Mark Selby: Life of a World Champion on Sky Go and On Demand

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