Top Seeds Shocked at SangSom 6-Red World Championship

The 2018 SangSom 6-Red World Championship has been left wide open after top seeds Mark Williams and Mark Selby crashed out of the tournament on the first day of the knockout rounds.

Having successfully qualified from their groups following three days of snooker, both saw their tournament end at the last 16 stage of the increasingly popular event in Thailand.

Defending champion Williams suffered a 6-3 defeat at the hands of Mohamed Shehab of the United Arab Emirates. Competing as an international amateur nomination through the World Snooker Federation, Shehab previously defeated Thanawat Tirapongpaiboon and David Gilbert earlier in the week, before adding the scalp of Williams to reach the last eight.

He will now face home player Sunny Akani, after the 22-year-old came through a deciding frame against 2014 champion Stephen Maguire.

There was also an early exit for Mark Selby, the world number one losing out to fellow Leicester professional Tom Ford at the last 16 stage earlier today. Awaiting Ford in the quarter-finals will be Belgium’s Luca Brecel, a 6-3 victor against Ryan Day in his first knockout match.

Elsewhere in the draw, Ding Junhui will face Thai legend James Wattana in a repeat of their recent first round match at the World Open in Yushan, while Stuart Bingham will play recent Paul Hunter Classic champion Kyren Wilson.

Follow the latest result from the event here.