Kurt Maflin booked his place at the Betfred World Snooker Championship for the first time in five years and had a message for 2015 nemesis Mark Selby – ‘I’m going to beat you this time’.
Norway's Maflin toppled world No.27 Matthew Selt 10-1 at Sheffield’s English Institute of Sport, beating a player 16 places above him in the rankings following a fluent potting performance.
Maflin has failed to qualify for the Crucible since 2015 after enduring a bumpy few years on the snooker circuit, with that appearance ending in a heart-breaking 10-9 defeat to three-time world champion Selby.
But he’s back with a bang this year and Maflin, who reached the semi-finals of the Riga Masters earlier this season, sent out a clear statement of intent to the current world No.7.
“I’ll beat him this time!” the 36-year-old said.
“I’m just looking forward to getting back there now and I really enjoyed it last time – obviously the conditions now because of Covid means it’s going to be a bit different, but I’m really looking forward to it now.
“I’ve put a lot of hard work in over the last five or six weeks and it’s looking like it’s paying off.
“I’ve been quite close – last year I think [Graeme] Dott did me in the last round, so I really wanted to get back there this year.”
Maflin crafted breaks of 103, 83, 78 and 77 as he blew Selt away in Sheffield, getting the job done in style to make amends for his recent group stage exit at the Championship League in Milton Keynes.
The Norwegian crashed out of the Welsh Open, World Grand Prix and Northern Ireland Open at the first hurdle during a mixed season with a cue in hand, nevertheless reaching the fourth round of the UK Championship and third round at the Scottish Open.
As he prepares to do battle with a glittering line-up of stars at the Crucible, Maflin wants to recapture the ruthlessness that saw him easily brush past Selt in Sheffield.
"I feel really good – I played quite well today and solidly enough,” he added.
“Matthew struggled a little bit and I just pounced on him at the right time.
“You never know in snooker - you can all of a sudden end up at 8-5 and that’s not what you want, so you have to try and get the job done quickly and I was quite determined to finish it off as quickly as possible.”
Live snooker returns to Eurosport and the Eurosport app. Watch the World Championship and qualifying from July 21 – August 16.
