Mark Selby
Name: Mark Selby
DOB: June 19th 1983
Nationality: English
Turned Pro: 1999
Highest Ranking: #4 (2008/9)
Current Ranking: #7
Highest Break: 147 (2009 Jiangsu Classic)
Career Highlights: 2008 Masters Champion, 2007 World Finalist, 2008 Welsh Open Champion, 2008 Premier League Finalist, 2006 World 8-ball Champion
In short
One of the most improved players around over the last couple of years having come from nowhere to reach the world final in 2007, Mark Selby’s results since then have proved that this was no flash in the pan and he is now one of the favourites for every event that he enters.
Famous for his tendency to ‘sway’ when down on his shots, Selby is one of the more methodical players on the tour these days though he has has tried to quicken up his play, largely as result of being involved in the Premier League competition. His strengths are his great safety game which is right up there with the best in the game at the moment, as well as an eye for a long pot which makes for a formidable combination in any snooker player.
Known as the ‘Jester from Leicester’, Mark is a popular player with the fans, partly because of his relaxed manner around the table and his tendency to have a joke and interact with the crowd during his matches. During the World final in 2007 for example he managed to play the most important match of his life with a smile on his face which in many ways is remarkable. It is not just snooker that he is skilled at either, having won the 2006 WEPF World Eight-ball Championship in pool. Snooker remains his main game though and it would be surprising if he were not to add more silverware to his collection in the near future.
Early career
Winner of the 1998 English U-15 Championship, it was not long before Selby turned professional in the summer of 1999 following a strong season on the Challenge Tour. His first couple of seasons were unremarkable, but he managed to maintain a place on the tour and improve his position in the world rankings to 95th by the summer of 2001.
It was at this point however where Selby’s career began to take off when he made the semi-finals of the China Open. He didn’t just beat anyone to do so however as he beat Joe Swail, Stephen Hendry and Ronnie O’Sullivan at the quarter-final stage. He followed this performance up by reaching the final qualifying round of the World Championships and as a result his ranking shot up to a high of 56 by the end of the season.
He wasn’t going to stop there however as he consistently made the last 32 of events during the 2002/3 season. His best run however came at the Scottish Open where he defeated Paul Hunter, Matthew Stevens, Ali Carter and Ken Doherty to reach the final. Although he lost this 9-7 to David Gray, his performances throughout the season were good enough to move him into the top 32 for the first time in his career.
The 2003/4 season was a solid one for Selby, his best result being a run to the semi-finals of the Grand Prix. He once again failed to qualify for the World Championship at the Crucible though, losing in the final qualifying round for the third consecutive year, this time to Lee Walker. He did not have much longer to wait however…
The Higgins trilogy
Following another steady season overall, Selby finally qualified for the Crucible, thrashing Joe Perry 10-2 in the final qualifying round. He ran into 1998 World Champion John Higgins in the first round however and though he put up a good fight, eventually succumbed to a 10-5 defeat.
In 2006 however, Selby again qualified for the tournament, this time with a 10-4 victory against Robert Milkins who incidentally made a 147 break during the match. For the second year in a row he was paired with Higgins in the first round and things were to be different this time as Selby took an impressive 10-4 win over the man who was many people’s favourite for the title. His run was not to last however as he ran into an in-form Mark Williams in the next round who took a 13-8 victory.
2007 was to be Selby’s real breakthrough however as he defeated Stephen Lee, Peter Ebdon, Ali Carter and then most impressively Shaun Murphy in the semi-final to reach his first world final. Here he would face none other than John Higgins who himself had played some great snooker to reach the final and was favourite to take his second world crown. The start of the match suggested that this was exactly what would happen with Higgins racing off into a 12-4 lead by the end of play on the first Saturday. Selby fought back magnificently on Monday afternoon however to close to just 12-10 at the start of the evening session before moving just one frame behind at 12-11. The famous comeback was not to be however as Higgins showed why he is one of snooker’s all-time greats and closed out the match 18-13.
Nevertheless, Selby’s profile had been raised dramatically here, as had his own levels of self-confidence which carried him into the 2007/2008 season on a real high. Furthermore he was now in the top 16 of the rankings for the first time at 11th place which ensured that he would no longer have to qualify for events.
Silverware
Despite losing to Ronnie O’Sullivan in a deciding frame at the UK Championship, Selby went on to win his first major title at the Saga Insurance Masters in 2008. He looked to be the best player throughout the tournament and so it proved as he battered Stephen Lee 10-3 in the final to take home the trophy.
He was obviously full of confidence following this victory and he carried on his winning streak at the next ranking event, the Welsh Open at Newport. Here he eased into the final and although he went 8-5 down to Ronnie O’Sullivan, recovered brilliantly to take the final four frames to take his first ranking event title.
As a result of his good results, Selby entered the 2008 World Championship as one of the favourites but surprisingly slipped to a 10-8 defeat against qualifier Mark King. Still, he did end the season at a career high ranking of number four and all the signs pointed towards another successful campaign in 2008/9.
2008/9
Ahead of his debut in the 2008 Premier League, Mark spent the summer working on his cue action in order to try and speed up his play to cope with the 25 second shot clock in operation. Although he got off to a slow start against Ding Junhui in his first match, he recovered from losing the first two frames to take the last four in style and would remain unbeaten for the rest of the group phase to finish top of the table. Having whitewashed Stephen Hendry in the semi-final with one of his best competitive performances, he looked to have a good chance against Ronnie O’Sullivan in the final, but he could not reproduce that form and it was Ronnie who ran out a 7-2 winner.
It was to be a similar story when they met again in the final of the Masters as Mark was looking to keep his unbeaten run at Wembley going. Despite having several chances to push ahead in the first session however, he could not take advantage and in the end O’Sullivan stayed in touch until a late flourish took him to a 10-8 victory, ending Mark’s brave defensive of his title.
While he enjoyed success in the invitational events though, he struggled to translate his confidence into results at the ranking events, reaching just one semi-final and two quarter-finals during the season. It was not a bad season by any means but for a man regarded as one of the strongest all-round players at the moment, to drop three places to 7th in the rankings will have been a disappointment. He will be back contesting finals sooner rather than later though, he is too good a player not to…
Website: http://www.markselby.info/
Tournament Victories:
Ranking Event wins (1)
| Event | Year |
| Welsh Open | 2008 |
Non-Ranking Event wins (1)
| Event | Year |
| Wembley Masters | 2008 |
