‘Pathetic, just not good enough’ – Selby exits NI Open

Mark Selby claims that Jack Lisowski’s defeat in the second round of the Northern Ireland Open caused him to struggle to feel at his best as he dropped out of the tournament.

This year, the four-time world champion has advanced to the semi-finals of the Shanghai Masters, English Open, and British Open.

Selby has yet to surpass previous campaigns, which have resulted in his three Masters titles and 24 ranking victories.

The 42-year-old was unable to capitalize on several scoring opportunities in Wednesday’s defeat to Lisowski at Belfast’s Waterfront Hall, which hampered his chances of extending his winning streak to the English, Scottish, and Welsh Opens.

“I mean, I’m working hard on the practice table but just lacking a little confidence at the moment; I don’t feel great out there.”

Results-wise, it’s been good, but with the table I’ve been playing, I’ve not really felt at ease with what I’m doing. You just have to ride the waves and emerge from the other side of patches like that.

“You just keep going, hoping it will turn around.”

The Welsh Open victory in February saw the world number 10 triumph, joining Neil Robertson and Mark Allen, who have won three of the four Home Nations competitions since 2016’s start.

Selby, whose best performance in Belfast was a semi-final appearance in 2018, continued, “I love the venue.”

The Xi’an Grand Prix and the International Championship are scheduled as part of the Northern Ireland Open, which Selby believes should be avoided given that Selby believes this should be done.

He responded, “It’s really quite poor.” We visited China just before the deadline, so you only have one or two days before flying back to China.

Because it has a toll, you must put your health first. Traveling is exhausting.

“You want to go there fresh and give yourself the best chance when you enter tournaments.” Sometimes scheduling prevents you from doing that consistently.

In addition to the remarkable 13 maximum 147 breaks, including two for Ronnie O’Sullivan, Thailand’s Thepchaiya Un-Nooh, and Ireland’s Aaron Hill, the opening months of the 2025-26 season have produced various winners of each of the six ranking tournaments and a wide variety of different finalists.

The previous two seasons saw 13 breaks totaling 15 and not exceeding double digits, compared to the previous year’s record 15 maximum breaks.

Selby attributes the rise to the current level of talent on the professional scene.

He continued, “I just think the standard is so difficult today.” There are no longer any simple games.

The “standard is very, very tough” higher up the ladder, but I don’t believe it’s much better.