World Championship 2022: Yan Bingtao ‘very tired’ as he survives 85-minute frame, Crucible’s longest ever, to oust Mark Selby

Record-breaking frame at World Championship takes longer than Fury-Whyte boxing bout and its two renditions of American Pie

Reigning champion Selby meets his match as China’s Yan moves on to quarter-final against Mark Williams

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Yan Bingtao of China celebrates after completing his victory over Mark Selby in Sheffield. Photo: Xinhua

Published: 4:02pm, 24 Apr 2022Updated: 4:37pm, 24 Apr 2022

When seasoned snooker insiders said China’s Yan Bingtao had what it took to flourish in the World Championship’s longer match format, they could hardly have imagined this.

Yan had to endure the longest frame since the tournament moved to the Crucible in 1977 – clocking in at a gruelling 85 minutes – to outlast a typically obstinate Mark Selby overnight and beat the defending champion 13-10.

In comfortably less time than it took Yan and Selby to contest the 22nd frame, Tyson Fury and Dillian Whyte simultaneously staged their heavyweight boxing bout at Wembley, sandwiched between two versions of Don McLean’s American Pie – until recently the longest No 1 hit in US chart history.

Their frame lasted almost as long as Yan, 22, claims to have been sleeping at times during the past week in Sheffield.

Mark Selby (right) relishes the tight exchanges but he was matched by Yan Bingtao in the World Championship second round. Photo: Xinhua

The soporific stuff is signature Selby territory, but whereas wars of attrition with “the Jester” had broken many a previous opponent, Yan showed he had the endurance needed – even if he admitted afterwards to having been “very tired”.

He and Selby traded blows in an epic safety exchange before cagily progressing through the colours with both players missing the black. Finally, Yan potted it to move 12-10 in front in their second-round encounter.