Mark Selby was straight into an auspicious groove as he began his title defence at the Betfred World Championship on Saturday . The 31-year-old from Leicester rocked Ronnie O'Sullivan in last year 's final to claim his maiden Crucible title , and returned to ease 6-3 ahead of Kurt Maflin in their first-round tussle . No first-time champion in Sheffield has returned to retain the trophy 12 months on , and that factor has taken the tag of the 'Crucible curse ' . Mark Selby plays a shot in the first round match against Kurt Maflin on day one of the World Championship . Mark Selby and Norwegian Kurt Maflin look on during their first round match at the Crucible in Sheffield . Selby salutes the Crucible crowd on his arrival . 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 him a commanding lead to take into the evening session . His match with Maflin concludes on Saturday , the only clash to reach a finish on day one of the tournament , and Selby looked like being too strong for his London-born opponent who currently represents Norway , where he has lived for more than a decade . Maflin defeated Steve Davis in the qualifying stages , and he beat Selby in Germany last year , but this was a Crucible debut for the 31-year-old . Selby , despite being just two months older than Maflin , is an old hand at the tournament , having made his first World Championship appearance 10 years ago . They shared the four frames before the mid-session interval , Maflin making runs of 96 and 60 , before Selby opened a two-frame lead and then also claimed the seventh after a re-spotted black . It looked a pivotal frame , as Maflin twice attempted to double in the black but on the second occasion left Selby a long pot , which he fired assuredly into the centre of the pocket . Selby match against Maflin concludes on Saturday , the only clash to finish on day one of the tournament . Back came Maflin with an 88 break , but when Selby bustled through the last of the session he had a commanding advantage to take into the concluding session , needing just four more frames to reach the second round . Hong Kong cueman Marco Fu took the final frame of the session with a break of 66 to nudge 5-4 in front of Bexhill 's Jimmy Robertson . Robertson was mauled 10-1 by Selby when making his World Championship debut four years ago , but after qualifying for the second time was making a stronger fist this time . 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 .
Mark Selby leads Kurt Maflin 6-3 and needs only four more frames to win . No first-time champion in Sheffield has returned to retain the trophy . Selby and Maflin shared the first four frames before Selby pulled away . Marco Fu leads Jimmy Robertson 5-4 after break of 66 in final frame .