• UK Championship

Higgins makes 147 but falls to defeat

Mark Selby retained his focus to beat Ryan Day © PA Photos

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John Higgins made a maximum 147 but slipped to a 6-5 defeat to Mark Davis in the UK Championship.

Higgins was well short of his best and trailed 5-2 when he knocked in a stunning maximum. It sparked a revival and he made relentless headway as Davis began to feel the heat.

At 5-5, Higgins looked a strong favourite, but Davis got in and moved to a 53-0 lead. He missed a tough red, but not as tough the one Higgins knocked in to start his final break.

Higgins made 49 and had pink and black on their spots. He inexplicably missed the pink and after a safety exchange, Davis knocked in a terrific pink to take the match and book his place in the UK Championshop quarter finals for the first time.

Mark Selby overcame a poor start to topple Ryan Day 6-4 and book his place in the quarter-finals of the UK Championship.

World No. 2 Selby missed a string of easy balls early on and was shaking his head in his chair as he fell three frames behind. Day had a chance to edge four clear, but failed to take it and a 67 saw Selby steady the ship.

He was far from fluent in the next couple of frames, but managed to level the match - with Day left to rue a missed pink with the rest in the sixth frame.

Upon levelling the match at York's Barbican Centre, Selby clicked into gear and a break of 99 - he was denied a century after leaving a red in the jaws - took him ahead for the first time.

He did get his century in the next, a superbly-crafted 103 taking him within one frame of victory. Selby should have finished things off in the ninth, but he missed a black with the frame at his mercy and Day stepped in to clear.

Day failed to take advantage of the lifeline he was thrown as Selby took a scrappy 10th to progress.

"The turning point was the sixth frame when I got the snooker to go 3-3," Selby said. "It was strange because Ryan was in front but I could see he was still feeling the pressure, he missed a few balls I didn't expect him to miss and after that I seemed to play OK.

"The way the match started I couldn't have played any worse, I was expecting the light to go off as if we were playing in the social club! After the interval I relaxed and performed how I needed to perform to win the match."

Up next for Selby is Neil Robertson who cruised to a 6-2 win over Barry Hawkins.

Luca Brecel rallied from three frames down to claim a 6-4 win over Mark King and his reward is a quarter-final with Shaun Murphy.

"In the final frame I was a little bit nervous but I was still confident I could win," Brecel said. "I wasn't surprised to come from behind, I'm a fighter."

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