Mark Selby's Home Nations Series record attempt cut short by Jack Lisowski in Belfast

Selby was aiming to become the first player to achieve the unique feat of winning all four Home Nations events having secured titles at the English, Scottish, and Welsh Opens in recent years.

The four-time world champion took the opening frame on the final black but world number 29 Lisowski responded with breaks of 61, 103 and 51 as he strung together the next three frames for a 3-1 lead.

An effort of 65 in frame six kept Selby's hopes afloat as he reduced the gap to one, however Lisowski followed suit with a 65 of his own in the next frame to record an impressive 4-2 win.

A six-time ranking event runner-up - with the last of those finals coming in 2021 - 34-year-old Lisowski is arguably the best player on the World Snooker Tour without a ranking crown on his CV.

In recent times Lisowski - whose father passed away unexpectedly earlier this year - has gone down the pecking order; his last semi-final appearance was at this event two years ago when he lost 6-1 to Chris Wakelin.

Jack-Pot's return this season, so far, has been modest with just one last 16 appearance (English Open) to his name, although this week represents another opportunity for him to realise his big breakthrough.

In what promises to be a mouth-watering last 16 encounter on Thursday, Lisowski will meet fellow quick cueist Thepchaiya Un-Nooh after the Thai ace rattled in runs of 51, 51, 69 and 94 as he dispatched Mark Davis, 4-1, during the morning session in Belfast.

Elsewhere across the opening sessions on day four in the capital, He Guoqiang defeated Wu Yize 4-2 in an all-Chinese clash, posting breaks of 77 and 120 in the final two frames.

Another Chinese star into the round of 16 of this £550,400 tournament is Si Jiahui who whitewashed Stephen Maguire 4-0 along with a trio of half-centuries.

Si - who has recently been nudged outside of the world's top 16 rankings - is set to face John Higgins next.

Three-times a Home Nations Series event winner, Gary Wilson survived a dramatic black ball deciding frame finish in the opening round earlier this week against Chang Bingyu. In his latest Belfast assignment, Wilson crafted contributions of 70, 50 and 79 as he saw off Martin O'Donnell 4-2 in a re-run of the 2024 Welsh Open final.

Wilson sets up a date with world number one Judd Trump in the last 16.

The world's most in-form player, Shaun Murphy stays on track for The Alex Higgins Trophy and £100,000 top prize later this week as he compiled breaks of 68, 81, 82 and 60 in a 4-2 win over Elliot Slessor.

Murphy is aiming for three finals in-a-row having won last month's British Open and been runner-up at the Wuhan Open at the start of last week.

Visit our tournament information centre here for details on the 2025 Northern Ireland Open including the draw, results, schedule and how to watch.