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* [http://www.global-snooker.com/Mark-Selby.asp Profile on the Global Snooker]
* [http://www.global-snooker.com/Mark-Selby.asp Profile on the Global Snooker]
* [http://prosnookerblog.com/players/s-t/mark-selby/ Profile on Pro Snooker Blog]
* [http://prosnookerblog.com/players/s-t/mark-selby/ Profile on Pro Snooker Blog]
* [http://www.cuetracker.net/pages/players.php?pl=2&year=2011 Results & Statistics on CueTracker]


{{Top sixteen male snooker players}}
{{Top sixteen male snooker players}}

Revision as of 08:11, 5 September 2011

For the American musician, see Mark Selby (musician).
Mark Selby
Mark Selby at World Series of Snooker, Warsaw, 2008
Born (1983-06-19) 19 June 1983 (age 41)
Leicester, England
Sport country England
NicknameThe Jester from Leicester[1]
Professional1999–
Highest ranking3 (5 months)
Current ranking 4 (as of 28 October 2024)
Century breaks846 (as of 5 November 2024)
Tournament wins
Ranking1
Minor-ranking2

Mark Anthony Selby (born 19 June 1983, Leicester, England) is an English professional snooker and pool player. Runner up in the World Snooker Championship 2007,[3] he was the 2006 WEPF World Eight-ball Champion. Selby has won the Masters on two occasions and the Welsh Open, to date his only ranking-tournament success.

Career

Early years

Selby showed potential as a teenager, but did not consistently shine until his twenties. He reached his first ranking final aged 19, the Regal Scottish in 2003, where he finished runner-up to David Gray, losing 9–7 in the final. Before that, he had also already reached the semi-finals of the 2002 China Open, despite leaving his hotel room at 2 a.m. instead of 2 p.m. for one match due to jetlag.[4]

Selby reached the final qualifying round of the World Snooker Championship in 2002, 2003 and 2004, losing each time. Early in the 2005/06 season he began to be managed by former snooker professional and fellow Leicester resident Mukesh Parmar and reached the final stages of the World Snooker Championship, at the Crucible Theatre, for the first time. Selby went out in the first round, losing to John Higgins but has qualified for the final stages every year since, including in 2006 despite a 147 from his final qualifying round opponent Robert Milkins.

Breakthrough and success

In the 2007 World Championships, he beat Stephen Lee 10–7 in the first round, having won 8 successive frames from being 5–0 behind.[5] Selby then defeated former World Champion Peter Ebdon 13–8, with five centuries (including three-in-a-row) to reach the quarter-finals.[6] In the quarter-final, he beat Allister Carter 13–12, from 11–8 up and 11–12 down, in a match that lasted well over nine hours.[7] He went on to reach the final by beating Shaun Murphy 17–16 from 14–16 down, in another deciding frame which he won thanks to a 64 break.[8] Against Higgins in the final, Selby trailed 4–12 after the Sunday sessions, but won all six frames played in the third session on Monday afternoon before the players ran out of time due to the length of the frames. Thus he entered the final session only 10–12 down and closed to within one frame at 13–14, but eventually succumbed 13–18.[3] His performances earned him £110,000 (not far off half of his pre-tournament all-time earnings). It was noted by eventual world champion John Higgins, amongst others, in his victory speech, that Selby was the most improved player on the tour.[9] These performances in the 2006/07 season earned Selby a place in the top 16 for the very first time for the 2007/08 season, where he was ranked 11th.[10]

Selby's wins over Lee, Ebdon, Carter and Murphy at the 2007 World Championships also won him the inaugural 888.com Silver Chip award for outstanding performance, awarded by the Snooker Writers’ Association at the post-championship ball.[11]

Recent years

After a moderate start to the season, Selby had a strong run in the second most important professional snooker championship, the United Kingdom Championship, reaching the semi-finals of the event. He led eventual winner Ronnie O'Sullivan 7–5, fell 7–8 behind, before levelling the match at 8–8. In the deciding frame, however, O'Sullivan made a 147 break to win 9–8.[12]

On 20 January 2008, Selby won his first major tournament – the Saga Insurance Masters at Wembley. En route to the final, he had edged out Stephen Hendry, Stephen Maguire and Ken Doherty, all on a 6–5 scoreline (and, in the first two cases, having been 5–3 behind). In the final against Stephen Lee, after leading 5–3 at the break Selby took control and reeled off five consecutive frames (eight-in-a-row overall from 2–3 behind) to win convincingly 10–3. Selby's play in the final was of the highest standard, with four century breaks and two consecutive tons to cross the winning line. His final-frame effort, a total clearance of 141, equalled the tournament's highest break and was Selby's best in competitive play.[13]

On 17 February 2008, he won a close-fought Welsh Open final, overcoming Ronnie O'Sullivan 9–8 from 5–8 down.[14] However, he could not reproduce his Crucible success from the previous season. Despite going into the World Championships as one of the bookmakers' favourites for the title, Selby was defeated 10–8 in the first round by Mark King.

The following year in the Welsh Open quarter-final, he was handed a writ by a member of the audience, supposedly his former manager George Barmby.[15] Selby reached the final of the Masters again where he was runner-up to Ronnie O'Sullivan, and also reached the quarter-finals of the 2009 World Championship, losing 12–13 to Higgins, who again went on to win the title.

He opened the 2009/10 season with two first round defeats, before coming from 4–8 down to beat Jamie Cope 9–8 in the first round of the UK Championship, scoring 6 breaks over 40 in those five frames.

On 17 January 2010, Selby won his second Masters title after reaching the final for the third time in as many years in a repeat of the previous year's final, where he lost to Ronnie O'Sullivan. O'Sullivan took a commanding lead at 9–6 leaving him just one frame from victory, but Selby played some of his best snooker of the season to overcome the three-frame deficit, taking the championship 10–9 and the £150,000 winner's cheque.[16]

At the 2011 China Open, Selby beat Tian Pengfei, Robert Milkins, Ali Carter, and home favourite Ding Junhui, but was defeated 8–10 by Judd Trump in the final.

At the 2011 World Championship, Selby set the record for the most century breaks compiled in a world championship match when he made six in his second round tie with Stephen Hendry.[17] It was also a record for a best-of-25 match and took Selby's century tally for the season to 54, setting a new record for the most centuries compiled in a season.[18]

Life outside snooker

He is a fan of Leicester City Football Club, who he has supported since childhood.[19]

In July 2006, he won the WEPF World Eight-ball Championship, beating Darren Appleton 11–7 in the final at Blackpool.[20] He is also known to be a fan of darts, beating Eric Bristow in 2007 and taking on Raymond van Barneveld in exhibition matches.[21][22]

Selby's nickname on the snooker circuit is "the Jester from Leicester", a name given to him by snooker compere, Richard Beare.[23]

Mark's wife Vikki Layton, who often attends his major matches, is an Irish international pool player.[24] They announced their engagement in August 2010,[25] and were married in Mexico on May 24, 2011.[26]

Career finals

Ranking event finals: 5 (1 title, 4 runner-ups)

Legend
World Championship (0–1)
UK Championship (0–0)
Other (1–3)
Outcome No. Year Championship Opponent in the final Score
Runner-up 1. 2003 Scottish Open England David Gray 7–9
Runner-up 2. 2007 World Snooker Championship Scotland John Higgins 13–18
Winner 1. 2008 Welsh Open England Ronnie O'Sullivan 9–8
Runner-up 3. 2011 German Masters Wales Mark Williams 7–9
Runner-up 4. 2011 China Open England Judd Trump 8–10

Minor-ranking tournaments

Non-ranking tournaments

Pro-am tournaments

References

  1. ^ Glendenning, Barry (2 May 2017). "The Jester smiles at last: Mark Selby steps out from Leicester City's shadow". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 29 November 2022. Retrieved 13 February 2024.
  2. ^ "Mark Selby". Yahoo! UK. 2009. Retrieved 22 February 2010.
  3. ^ a b "Higgins beats brave Selby in epic". BBC Sport. 8 May 2007. Retrieved 8 May 2007.
  4. ^ "World Snooker Player Profiles". sportinglife.com. Retrieved 22 December 2007.
  5. ^ "Selby completes amazing comeback". BBC Sport. 25 April 2007. Retrieved 6 May 2007.
  6. ^ "Sizzling Selby knocks out Ebdon". BBC Sport. 30 April 2007. Retrieved 6 May 2007.
  7. ^ "Selby finally shakes off Carter". BBC Sport. 2 May 2007. Retrieved 6 May 2007.
  8. ^ "Selby pips Murphy to world final". BBC Sport. 5 May 2007. Retrieved 6 May 2007.
  9. ^ "Murphy and Selby join Championship Snooker". Matchroom Sport. 6 February 2008. Retrieved 16 November 2009. [dead link]
  10. ^ "Hot Shot". BBC Leicester. Retrieved 9 September 2009.
  11. ^ "Selby's Had His Chip". World Snooker, 5 May 2007. Archived from the original on 14 May 2007. Retrieved 19 May 2007.
  12. ^ "Superb Sullivan stuns Selby". sportinglife.com. Retrieved 22 December 2007.
  13. ^ "Selby trounces Lee to win Masters". BBC Sport. 20 January 2008. Retrieved 7 October 2009.
  14. ^ "Selby comeback stuns O'Sullivan". BBC Sport. 17 February 2008. Retrieved 7 October 2009.
  15. ^ "Writ claim disrupts Selby match". BBC News. 20 February 2009. Retrieved 5 January 2010.
  16. ^ "Selby stuns O'Sullivan to win Masters". BBC Sport. 16 January 2010. Retrieved 18 January 2010.
  17. ^ "Selby rewrites the Crucible record books". World Snooker. World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association. 24 April 2011. Retrieved 24 April 2011.
  18. ^ "World Snooker: Record-breaking Selby close to victory". BBC Sport. BBC. 24 April 2011. Retrieved 24 April 2011.
  19. ^ Mark Selby Picture Special, Leicester City 4 October 2007; Retrieved on 5 October 2007
  20. ^ "Selby pockets world rules pool crown". UK 8 Ball Pool Community, 17 June 2006. Archived from the original on 6 December 2006. Retrieved 6 May 2007.
  21. ^ Bozeat, Mark (2 December 2007). "Selby hits top form .... but on the oche!". Sunday Mercury. Birmingham, England. Retrieved 17 January 2010.
  22. ^ "Darts: Selby on the oche". Leicester Mercury. 29 April 2009. Retrieved 17 January 2010.
  23. ^ Ashdown, John (18 April 2008). "Small talk: Mark Selby". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 17 January 2010. Well, I just seem to make people laugh. I used to have a laugh and a joke with the compere, Richard Beare, and he gave me the nickname the Jester from Leicester.
  24. ^ Dillon, Andrew (19 April 2008). "Selby finds perfect match". The Sun. Retrieved 17 January 2010.
  25. ^ "Mark And Vikki To Tie The Knot". World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association. Retrieved 22 August 2010.
  26. ^ "Mark And Vikki Tie The Knot". World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association. Retrieved 31 May 2011.
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