Selby is left stunned by first round Masters loss

LEICESTER HERO AND REIGNING CHAMPION MURPHY BEATEN BY CHINESES DEBUTANTS ON OPENING DAY OF THE TOURNAMENT

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MARK Selby suffered a stunnng first round defeat at the Masters but insisted he still felt good about his game.

Leicester's three-time champion was sent crashing out of the tournament by Chinese debutant Xiao Guodong at Alexandra Palace in London.

Xiao, 36, made breaks of 95, 62, 76 and 77 as he won the opening four frames, with Selby’s highest break at that stage only being 21.

But the four-time world champion threatened a superb comeback as he made breaks of 101 and 76 to claw it back to 4-2.

Xiao had not potted a ball in 46 minutes but then made an excellent break of 118 to move one frame away from victory, which he clinched by edging a scrappy eighth frame.

"The venue is good, the people watching are good and everything is perfect - this was my first time playing in the Masters,” said Xiao.

“We both played good and I won the first four frames and gave Mark a bit of pressure but then he came back so it was a good game.