Snooker ace Matt Selt's heroic World Championships fightback ends in frustration

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MATT Selt believes the damage was done early on after his remarkable comeback fell agonisingly short in the World Snooker Championship first round in Sheffield

Trailing Barry Hawkins 7-2 following Sunday's first session, things looked even bleaker for the Hartshill potter at 9-4 but he battled back to force a decider before falling 10-9.

With nothing to lose at 9-4 down, the 30-year-old finally opened his shoulders and reeled off five frames on the spin, including back-to-back centuries, to level things up at 9-9.

However, Hawkins showed why he is world No.5 and held his nerve in frame 19 to triumph with a 43 break .

Selt admits his mentality changed when the Kent potter moved within a frame of victory but concedes he had simply left himself too much to do by that point.

"My mentality did change once I fell behind – there was no way I should have been 7-2 down, it was a bit of a liberty really," explained Selt.

"I thought if you're going to go out, you might as well go down fighting. I decided to just go attack, attack, attack and they all started to go in. That put Barry under a lot of pressure.

"My cueball control was so bad in the first session – I kept running out of position and that was the difference between winning and losing for me.

"If I had started the match as I played in the second session I probably wouldn't have lost but I quite enjoy being behind to be honest, the pressure isn't really on you.

"I've come back against Barry before so I'm always comfortable coming from a losing position."

The defeat was just Selt's second match at the iconic Crucible Theatre – his only previous appearance ending with a 10-4 defeat to Mark Selby in 2013.

Although it is now over, this has been a relatively successful season for the world No.30 – reaching the final of the Lisbon Open a particular highlight – and he is adamant he will learn from the loss.

"I know what I'm capable of and I felt that if the balls presented themselves I could clear up every time," added Selt.

"Against the top players not taking your chances will be the difference. It's such a fine margin between winning and losing – I was half a centimetre away from potting the first red in the last frame and his points would have been mine.

"But that's professional sport at this level and you have to take it on the chin when you lose."

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