article_snippet.sent: Mark Selby was straight into an auspicious groove as Mark Selby began Mark Selby title defence at the Betfred World Championship on Saturday.
article_snippet.sent: The 31-year-old from Leicester rocked Ronnie O'Sullivan in last year's final to claim Mark Selby maiden Crucible title, and returned to ease 6-3 ahead of Kurt Maflin in their first-round tussle.
article_snippet.sent: Mark Selby plays a shot in the first round match against Kurt Maflin on day one of the World Championship .
article_snippet.sent: Selby and Maflin look on during Selby and Maflin
article_snippet.sent: Mark Selby salutes the Crucible crowd on Mark Selby arrival .
article_snippet.sent: Mark Selby is equipped with the form to be a repeat winner, having lifted the German Masters and China Open titles this year, and breaks of 84, 108, 53, 69 and 56 gave Mark Selby a commanding lead to take into the evening session.
article_snippet.sent: Mark Selby match with Kurt Maflin concludes on Saturday, the only clash to reach a finish on day one of the tournament, and Mark Selby looked like being too strong for Mark Selby London-born opponent who currently represents Norway, where Mark Selby has lived for more than a decade.
article_snippet.sent: Kurt Maflin defeated Steve Davis in the qualifying stages, and Kurt Maflin beat Mark Selby in Germany last year, but this was a Crucible debut for the 31-year-old.
article_snippet.sent: Mark Selby, despite being just two months older than Kurt Maflin, is an old hand at the tournament, having made Kurt Maflin first World Championship appearance 10 years ago.
article_snippet.sent: They shared the four frames before the mid-session interval, Kurt Maflin making runs of 96 and 60, before Mark Selby opened a two-frame lead and then also claimed the seventh after a re-spotted black.
article_snippet.sent: It looked a pivotal frame, as Kurt Maflin twice attempted to double in the black but on the second occasion left Mark Selby a long pot, which Mark Selby fired assuredly into the centre of the pocket.
article_snippet.sent: Selby match against Kurt Maflin concludes on Saturday, the only clash to finish on day one of the tournament .
article_snippet.sent: Back came Kurt Maflin with an 88 break, but when Mark Selby bustled through the last of the session Mark Selby had a commanding advantage to take into the concluding session, needing just four more frames to reach the second round.
article_snippet.sent: Bexhill's Jimmy Robertson was mauled 10-1 by Mark Selby when making Bexhill's Jimmy Robertson World Championship debut four years ago, but after qualifying for the second time was making a stronger fist this time.
article_snippet.sent: The 28-year-old Englishman briefly threatened to make a 147 maximum break, which would have been the 11th in the tournament's history, but missed the 11th red in the fifth frame.
highlights_snippet.sent: Mark Selby leads Kurt Maflin 6-3 and needs only four more frames to win .
  
highlights_snippet.sent: Selby and Maflin shared the first four frames before Mark Selby pulled away .
  