Ronnie O’Sullivan will be world number one a while longer (Picture: VCG via Getty Images) Ronnie O’Sullivan is guaranteed to be the second seed for the 2019 Snooker World Championship after Mark Selby’s shock early exit from the China Open. O’Sullivan moved to number one in the world after winning the Tour Championship in March, but he could have lost that spot had Selby won the China Open for a fourth time. Far from lifting the trophy, Selby lost 6-3 in a held over qualifying match to Craig Steadman, meaning that Ronnie will remain number one going into the World Championship. However, the world number one doesn’t mean number one seed in Sheffield, that honour goes to the defending champion, Mark Williams. Mark Selby suffered a very disappointing defeat on Monday (Picture: VCG via Getty Images) Selby was disappointed to relinquish a title he has won in each of the last two years in Beijing, but is taking the positives from losing his number one spot. ‘Hopefully my results will turn around,’ said the three-time world champion. ‘I had the number one spot for four years but sooner or later I was going to lose it, and Ronnie has played well this season. ‘It will make me stronger, to try to get it back. I’ll go home now and prepare for Sheffield.’ O’Sullivan is the favourite for the World Championship (Picture: VCG via Getty Images) It is now guaranteed that both O’Sullivan and Selby will be in the bottom half of the draw as Mark is set to be third seed at the Crucible. This means the pair could meet in the semi-finals in Sheffield for the first time, having previously contested a quarter-final and the final of the World Championship. Selby won both those contests, in 2010 and ’14 respectively, but would go in as the underdog against the red hot favourite to lift the title in South Yorkshire. The remaining 13 seeds will be confirmed at the end of the China Open, with the final in Beijing being played on Sunday. The World Championship begins on Saturday 20 April. MORE : Mark Selby suffers nightmare China Open exit to world number 92 MORE : Ronnie O’Sullivan explains why he is the greatest snooker player in history<doc-sep>The world No 2 - China Open winner in 2015, 2017 and 2018 - was never really let into the match by his fellow Englishman, who has slipped to No 92 in the world. Selby hits white off table, concedes match to Steadman China Open Robertson completes victory at the China Open 08/04/2019 AT 11:57 Selby, recently deposed as world No 1 by Ronnie O'Sullivan, barely had a look in as he lost three frames in a row to go 5-3 down. And an unlucky foul, where the white ball left the table, in the final frame eventually led to his demise in a scrappy frame that Steadman edged. Steadman made runs of 77, 108 and 86 from 3-2 behind to secure a meeting with Dominic Dale in the first round. The pair shook hands after Selby fouled again when snookered on the blue. The result means O'Sullivan, who is missing the trip to China, will be world number one at the World Championship. 'Incredible!' - Selby bounces yellow off table “Craig was unbelievable, he played as well as a top 16 player,” said Selby. “From 3-2 I didn’t do much wrong. Sometimes you just have to say ‘well played’ to your opponent. It seems to be going that way for me at the moment, I am playing well and still losing. Hopefully my results will turn around. I had the number one spot for four years but sooner or later I was going to lose it, and Ronnie has played well this season. It will make me stronger, to try to get it back. I’ll go home now and prepare for Sheffield. Neil Robertson completed a 6-2 win over Kishan Hirani with breaks of 119 and 138 while Ali Carter edged Kurt Maflin 6-5. Meanwhile, Anthony McGill booked his place in the second round with a 6-4 win over Nigel Bond. Qualifying round results Mark Selby 3-6 Craig Steadman Mark King 6-3 Bai Langing 6-3 Bai Langing Xiao Guodong 6-1 Soheil Vahedi 6-1 Soheil Vahedi Joe Perry 6-3 Wu Yize 6-3 Wu Yize Xiao Guodong 6-1 Soheil Vahedi 6-1 Soheil Vahedi Mark Davis 4-6 Chang Bingyu Pang Junxu w/o Mark Allen Mark Allen Ding Junhui 6-1 Zhang Jiankang 6-1 Zhang Jiankang Mark Williams 6-4 Harvey Chandler First round results Ali Carter 6-5 Kurt Maflin 6-5 Kurt Maflin Kishan Hirani 2-6 Neil Robertson 2-6 Neil Robertson Jamie Clarke 4-6 Stuart Carrington Anthony McGill 6-4 Nigel Bond 6-4 Nigel Bond Hossein Vafaei 6-2 Robert Milkins 6-2 Robert Milkins Zhou Yuelong 3-6 Li Hang Elliot Slessor 0-6 Stuart Bingham Luca Brecel 6-1 Sam Baird 6-1 Sam Baird Ding Junhui 6-1 Zhang Jiankang 6-1 Zhang Jiankang Gerard Greene 6-2 Chris Wakelin 6-2 Chris Wakelin David B Gilbert 6-4 Matthew Salt 6-4 Matthew Salt Marco Fu 3-6 Mei Xiwen Stuart Carrington 6-4 Jamie Clarke<doc-sep>
Mark Selby has crashed out early in Beijing (Picture: VCG via Getty Images) Mark Selby’s poor run of results has hit a new low after losing 6-3 in his first match at the China Open to world number 92 Craig Steadman. Selby was the defending champion in Beijing, having won three of the last four editions of the tournament, but he fell at the first hurdle in a huge upset. The shock defeat came in the qualifying round, rather than the first round proper, having been held over from the original qualification process in Cannock in February. Craig Steadman was a huge underdog against the defending champion (Picture: VCG via Getty Images) Selby has won just one tournament this year (China Championship) and reached one other semi-final (Northern Ireland Open). This paucity of success has seen his four-year spell as world number one come to an end, with Ronnie O’Sullivan usurping him at the top of the rankings. If the three-time world champion had won the China Open four a fourth time he would have regained the number one spot, but that is clearly now not an option. Selby could find himself down at world number three, if Mark Williams goes on to lift the trophy in Beijing. The ‘Jester from Leicester’ did not play too badly against Steadman, but the Lancashire man played far better than his world ranking and recent results would suggest. The 36-year-old knocked in a 108, the highest break of the match, en route to one of the biggest victories of his career. ‘Craig was unbelievable, he played as well as a top 16 player,’ said Selby. ‘From 3-2 I didn’t do much wrong. Sometimes you just have to say “well played” to your opponent. ‘It seems to be going that way for me at the moment, I am playing well and still losing.’ Steadman now takes on Dominic Dale in the last 64 in Beijing. MORE : Ronnie O’Sullivan explains why he is the greatest snooker player in history MORE : China Open could see Ronnie O’Sullivan’s spell as world number one last just two weeks