Superb Selby in control of UK final against Trump

Mark Selby established a 6-2 lead over defending champion Judd Trump as he dominated the opening session of the UK Championship final in York.

Selby, a two-time winner who is appearing in the final of one of snooker’s prestigious Triple Crown events for the 15th time, produced an almost flawless display of snooker over the first five frames.

Having made a 77 clearance from the most unlikely of situations to pinch the first frame from Trump, he took the second after winning a tactical battle on the yellow and compiled a break of 97 to go 3-0 up.

When world number one Trump missed a red to the right middle while 68 points ahead, fellow Englishman Selby again stepped up to ruthlessly punish him by clearing the table with a 70.

By the time Selby took the fifth frame, he had remarkably won 10 on the trot against Trump – going back to their Champion of Champions final in November.

Yet, despite cutting a frustrated figure, Trump rallied to reduce his arrears with runs of 74 and 75 before Selby underlined his dominance by taking the final frame of the afternoon session with another half-century.

Between the 2012-13 and 2016-17 seasons Selby was the dominant force in the game.

During that period the ‘Jester from Leicester’ topped the world rankings as he collected two UK crowns, one Masters title and triumphed three times at the Crucible.

And over recent months he has ominously started to exhibit the sort of form that suggests a 10th Triple Crown success is not far away.

Meanwhile, Trump now faces the prospect of having to win eight of the available remaining 11 frames to maintain his fine record of having won at least one tournament in every calendar year since 2013.

The 36-year-old appeared to be punished for every slight lapse in the afternoon session.