Close menu

Mark Selby enjoys World Championship and Leicester City double

By Shamoon HafezBBC Sport at the Crucible Theatre

Last updated on .From the section Snookercomments81

Highlights: Selby wins second world title

Mark Selby hailed "the best night" of his life after winning the world title for a second time, 13 minutes after his home town Leicester were crowned Premier League champions.

Selby, 32, beat China's Ding Junhui 18-14 to become only the sixth multiple winner of the title in the modern era.

"I don't know what is more of a shock, me winning it a second time or Leicester becoming champions," he said.

"To win the title once is great, but to win it twice is a dream come true."

Selby 'over the moon' with world title

At the start of the season, Leicester were 5,000-1 to become champions, while world number one Selby went into the final still searching for his best form.

"Hopefully in another two years they will win the Premier League again and I will come back and win again," he added.

"I'm quite emotional. When you look at people who've won it twice, to join that elite group is something special."

Stephen Hendry, Steve Davis, Ronnie O'Sullivan, John Higgins and Mark Williams are the only players in the modern era to have won two or more titles.

Selby's first world title victory against O'Sullivan in 2014 was the same year in which Leicester were promoted to the top flight from the Championship.

Selby wins World Snooker Championship

On Monday evening, Selby - whose nickname is the Jester from Leicester - potted the first red of his match-winning 74 break at the same time as the final whistle blew at Stamford Bridge.

"I didn't know Leicester had won it until after," he said. "The guy who was sat next to me called Brian told me the Chelsea v Tottenham game was 2-2 and Leicester are champions. That was the first time I knew.

"Going out there, I knew the game was kicking off but I tried not to think about it too much to distract me from what I had to do."

Selby brushes off criticism

Best shots of the 2016 World Championship

Selby admitted he had played "average or lower" during the tournament and came in for criticism because of his slow and meticulous style of play.

A 66-minute frame on the first day of the final was just 10 minutes short of the longest frame at the Crucible, set by Selby and Marco Fu in the semi-final.

Asked if the disapproval of his performances upset him, Selby said: "Not really. Some of the frames I made breaks in one visit and I looked at the time and it played on my mind a little.

"When I made a break, I looked at the scoreboard and saw it was around 10 or 11 minutes so obviously it was not that slow.

"It was just when the frames were scrappy, when I played safe, and that put Ding under pressure."

Mark Selby steals the show with karaoke classic

Ding finally feels at home

China's Ding came over to England at the age of 15 and has been living in Sheffield - the home of the Crucible Theatre - for the past decade.

The 29-year-old qualifier missed the chance to become the first Asian world champion, but despite falling short this time, showed his class with 15 centuries during the tournament.

"It is the first time I felt like I have played at home," he said. "The fans wanted me to win the title and they love to see other countries' players win it. It felt good.

"People will be disappointed in China but there is nothing disappointing in reaching the final. I just wanted to enjoy the day.

"Five years ago I was in the semi-finals, this year I took one step up, maybe next year I will win it, but it is great experience for my career. I may never have a chance again but I enjoyed the final. Not many players can get in the final."

Selby creates huge cue to play pot

Reprieve and resolve - key moments from the final

Frame two, an early blow: Needing a snooker with the colours from the green remaining, Selby managed to get it and cleared to go 2-0 ahead.

Frame seven, on the board: Having fallen 6-0 behind, Ding finally got his first frame of the final. He needed a couple of chances but the puff of the cheeks showed his relief.

Frame 10, a reprieve: Selby was in among the reds when a miscue allowed Ding to counter-attack with a 76 break and he took the next two as well to cut the lead to 7-5.

Frame 15, marathon of the mind: Ding won the 66-minute frame but it seemed to take a lot out of him as Selby won the next two to lead 10-7 after the first day.

Frame 23, resolve: Ding had closed to within one at 11-10, but Selby made a breaks of 52 and 68 to hold a 14-11 advantage.

Frame 27, winning line in sight: Ding was on 60 points when he lost position on the penultimate red as Selby cleared up to go two away from victory.

Frame 31, vital scrap: Ding had made breaks of 73, 70 and 103 to leave Selby not having made a pot for an hour, but the Englishman took a scrappy 50-minute frame to edge closer to the winning line which he managed in the next frame.

Selby's ranking titles
2008: Beats Ronnie O'Sullivan 9-8 to win Welsh Open
2011: Beats Mark Williams 10-9 in Shanghai Masters final
2012: Lifts UK Championship trophy with 10-6 win over Shaun Murphy
2014: Wins World Championship 18-14 against Ronnie O'Sullivan
2015: Secures German Masters and China Open titles
2016: Clinches second World Championship
Also won the Masters, an invitational event, in 2008, 2010 and 2013

Sign up to My Sport to follow snooker news and reports on the BBC app.

Comments

Join the conversation

These comments are now closed.

81 comments

  • Comment posted by U16519800, at 11:16 3 May 2016

    Mark Selby fantastic performance, not one of style and grace but hard work and graft like the Leicester City football team, never gave Ding a single clear opportunity and displayed fantastic safety play to keep Ding under intense pressure throughout.

  • Comment posted by Ledwulf, at 11:39 3 May 2016

    Mark has proved he's not past his Selby date.

    *groans*

    Seriously, the most unbelievable sporting day any city could wish for.

  • Comment posted by Cos-my-neighbour-said-so, at 11:21 3 May 2016

    just brilliant for the city of Leicester .... must have been an enormous inspiration for Selby to emulate his beloved Foxes....
    ENJOY the good times guys....youve all earned it

  • Comment posted by U14387209, at 12:07 3 May 2016

    well done to selby beat a very good player in ding..he was under a lot of pressure...ding had a lot of support....to win the world title is tough theres a lot of very good players out there.

  • Comment posted by U15813265, at 11:18 3 May 2016

    This can only be attributed to Richard III being properly interred having been found under a car park in Leicester. As gratitude for being buried like a king, Leicester will now win every sporting event forever, no matter how unlikely that seems. They will win the rugby via the playoffs and Leicester born Peter, an 11 year old tiddlywink enthusiast is going to be declared world champion.

  • Comment posted by modharry, at 14:43 3 May 2016

    Look everyone loves Ronnie & his attacking game, but you have to have admiration for the defensive game of Selby same as Novak in Tennis.
    Old enough to remember Snookers golden age when the contrast in styles attracted the viewers between the likes of Higgins White & Stevens & Davis, Thorburn, Griffths & Charlton
    Snooker needs Selby as much as it needs Ronnies attacking or Ding break building.

  • Comment posted by Olly P, at 11:56 3 May 2016

    Great tournament and Selby is amazing, brilliant that all facets of the game. Congratulations to him and to Ding for a wonderful final.

  • Comment posted by PosterMeerkat, at 11:21 3 May 2016

    The Americans still won't be able to pronounce "Leicester".

  • Comment posted by red leader, at 14:29 3 May 2016

    @1 Well it's not like the BBC can devote hours of coverage to football, cricket, formula 1, horse racing etc is it?

    Dont understand some people calling Selby boring, you win at any cost, do you want him to just come out and start smacking balls everywhere like Alex Higgins did? If you would find that entertaining, go down to your local club and do that yourself. It was good solid match play.

  • Comment posted by U16338930, at 12:25 3 May 2016

    I like both Ding and Selby. The better player on the day won and hope that Ding can come back next year and win it.

  • Comment posted by howitis, at 12:08 3 May 2016

    ... and what chance of Leicester Tigers making it a fantastic treble?

  • Comment posted by Number9, at 21:26 3 May 2016

    I wish Ding had won to be honest. He played fantastic snooker all tournament. And he had already played the three qualification rounds... you can't doubt the effort he put in.

    And of course it would have meant so much more to him... being the first player from Asia to ever do it.

    I really hope he does it one day.

  • Comment posted by thisismystory, at 19:35 3 May 2016

    Am not a big Selby fan by any stretch, but these edjits moaning he not good for the game, to slow etc etc. Away and boil your heads. He won! The rest didn't, simple as that. Same when people moan at different styles of football. See if it gets the job done you do it. His names on the trophy. Yours is not. I like watching snooker, all different styles and clearly other people do to.

  • Comment posted by Gaz43, at 11:44 3 May 2016

    Great night for the city of Leicester, must be a buzz there now. Classic matchplay final I think. Great single ball pressure pots that spring to mind - thin black with the extended rest to clinch a frame, long red cueing over the blue with no other shot to play. Ding played his part by making it a true contest. Barry Hearn should get the lads in the breakfast TV studios and on Question of Sport.

  • Comment posted by TruffleShuffle, at 11:02 3 May 2016

    I don't doubt Selby's nerve at crucial points, but some of his play is incredibly turgid and tedious, which brings little in terms of a sporting spectacle. Well done nonetheless.

    Been a snooker fan for decades, and watched every world championship - the pockets this year were definitely bigger. Many shots that really shouldn't have dropped, did. Even the commentators noticed.

  • Comment posted by British Sea Power , at 19:56 3 May 2016

    Selby gets a lot of criticism because of his pace at the table, he is though world class ( obviously) and there aren't others like him.

    He just grinds his opponents down and before you know it he has won the match.

    I watched his every game at Sheffield and he was definitely not up to scratch in all of his matchs, yet the man won.

    He really is a class act.

  • Comment posted by Rene Artois , at 18:15 3 May 2016

    Well done Mark Selby- a worthy winner. Perhaps not the most exciting, but he's tough to beat- that's why nobody could. I hope Ding contests another final- easily good enough to be a world champion.

    But BBC, the event's been televised for the last 17 days, it's one of the biggest events still covered on BBC, so why is it so hard to find the snooker news on the website?

  • Comment posted by latenitepoker, at 17:39 3 May 2016

    Selby is the toughest competitor there is in snooker...I suppose if all you like is crash, bang, wallop....'oooh look how hard my life is', you don't have the mental capacity to appreciate the skill players like Selby possess, but there you go; it takes all sorts.
    Many matches in this year's tournament were utterly compelling, well done to Mark Selby, Ding Jun Hui, Alan Mcmanus, to name but a few

  • Comment posted by U15438703, at 17:19 3 May 2016

    Watched a little of the semis and final.

    Selby is excrutiatingly slow (rather like Jason Day in golf). Couldn't stand to watch more than a few minutes at a time.

  • Comment posted by U3255577, at 16:54 3 May 2016

    Selby did get a nice run to the final, Milkins (journeyman), Baird (unknown), Wilson (up and coming) and Fu (journeyman) and in the final Ding (his first).

    But none of them could take advantage of his poor break building play and they all struggled against his constant safety play.

Top Stories

Elsewhere on the BBC