Women's snooker champion apologises to Mark Selby and Mark Williams after Crucible nightmare

Legendary women's snooker champion Reanne Evans has issued an apology to Mark Selby and Mark Williams after the duo crashed out of the World Championship at the Crucible.

The two former world champions made first-round exits in Sheffield despite being among those hotly tipped for success. Williams came into the tournament seeded sixth and narrowly lost to Si Jiahui, the 21-year-old who reached last year's semi-final.

Selby also fell to a fresher face as Joe O'Connor, making his debut, came away a 10-6 victor against the fifth seed. The Leicester-born ace last lost in the first round in 2018 and reached last year's final.

Evans, who has won the World Women's Snooker Championship a record 12 times, revealed she had predicted both players to reach the final. The 38-year-old could not help but see the funny side of her failure as she wrapped up her public apology with a shrugging and a laughing emoji.

Evans took to X to say sorry and said: “I apologise to both Mark Selby and Mark Williams for picking them to reach the final. I curse everyone ha.”

The aftermath saw both players question their futures in the sport. Selby admitted that he struggles mentally when not playing at his best.

He told BBC Two: "I will definitely still review it [my future] because I stopped myself from playing well when I had my chances and I can't keep doing that because it makes me ill and gets me down mentally.

"I will sit down with [wife] Vikki and see what the options are. It will be a big decision but if I carry on playing I need help, probably on the mental side of it, to enjoy the game a bit more."

Welsh star Williams is hopeful he will return to the World Championships but knows there are no guarantees in the sport. "Who knows what will happen?" he said.

"I cannot keep coming to this venue," said the Welshman. "I am 50 next year. I look around and I have loved every minute of it. If I will be back next year, I don’t know. Who knows? You can't keep going on forever.

"I will miss it. Fingers crossed you will see me play next year but who knows? It’s a tough game, and tough to keep getting back to these venues. You have to treat it as if you are not going to get back here."