The World Snooker Championships have produced some of the most extraordinary moments in sporting history, and Mark Selby’s performance against Ali Carter was no exception. (Here’s the video)
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It’s not that Mark Selby doesn’t make snooker harder for me. It’s just that it’s easier to concentrate on the intricacies of the game than the journey to my car, or the 20-minute queue at the bank. I’m not sure I’d want my life to be so difficult.
Mark Selby is regarded as one of the most difficult players in snooker history (Picture: Getty Images)
According to Welsh Open winner Jordan Brown, Mark Selby “doesn’t make snooker hard, he makes life hard for you,” as he remembers a match with the world number one that he won.
In terms of match-play snooker, Selby is regarded as the hardest of the difficult, with his granite mentality and safety game, coupled with his tremendous skill, producing a magnificent concoction on the baize.
It has resulted to four world championships and has created a unique atmosphere for opponents, who seem to struggle just as much, if not more, with the mental aspect of the game than with the shots itself.
Brown, who beat Selby 5-4 in the quarterfinals of the Welsh Open this year on his way to a spectacular ranking debut championship, reflected on that victory and the difficulty of facing the world champion.
‘It was an extremely wild game against Mark Selby,’ Brown said on the WST podcast. ‘He doesn’t make snooker difficult; he makes life difficult for you by placing you in the most inconvenient positions on the snooker table.’
‘There are certain areas you simply don’t want to be in.’ I like and respect his style of play, and he makes it very difficult for you.
‘I was really pleased with how I handled it, particularly the deciding frame.’
Jordan Brown went on to win the Welsh Open final against Ronnie O’Sullivan (photo courtesy of @Zheng Zhai).
Selby came up short against the Antrim Ferrari in that match, but he went on to win in the Crucible a few months later, demonstrating his ability to both blast opponents away and grind out victories when required.
The latter ability was on show in the semi-finals against Stuart Bingham, when the Leicester Jester scraped a 17-15 victory over the 2015 world champion, who looked to be in better free-flowing form in Sheffield.
Bingham accused Selby of being on the verge of gamesmanship during the match because of how long he took over certain strokes, but he later retracted his statement and apologized.
Ball-run, on the other hand, demonstrated how exhausting it can be to take on Selby, particularly over such a lengthy format.
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‘I felt like I out-played Mark in the semi-finals, so losing was difficult to swallow,’ Bingham said on the Talking Snooker podcast. ‘The media is there to perform their job; they want stories, so they’ll ask you things that will agitate you.
‘Since then, I’ve talked to Mark and apologized. It’s a terrible moment; if I lose a tight match, I can’t say “well done,” and I can’t talk to anybody; it takes half an hour to an hour for it to pass, but it’s still fresh.
‘I felt towards the conclusion of that match, he’d celebrated before potting match ball, and the theatrics he came out with when he fluked a red, he played up a little bit, and I just thought it was a little bit inappropriate,’ says the player.
At the Crucible this year, Selby would win his fourth World Championship championship (photo courtesy of Getty Images). )
‘But to each their own, we’ve spoken it out and laughed about it now.’
‘At that point, I had steam pouring out of my ears, and they knew just what buttons to push.’
‘It’s difficult, but you know what you’re getting with Mark; if you win a couple of frames quickly, you know the third or fourth frame will take an hour.’ He does it and is very excellent at it, which is why he is a four-time world champion and among the greats.
‘He isn’t easy on the eye for everyone, but when it comes down to it, he understands how to play the game and win, and that’s all that matters at the end of the day.’
Stuart Bingham was disappointed after losing against the Jester (Picture: Getty Images)
During that match, Selby was chastised by some for continuing when he needed five snookers at the end of a frame and the end of an evening session, but Bingham believes it was fair, given how excellent the world champion is at finding snookers.
‘There came a moment when I thought to myself, “What is going on here?” But the way the balls were, it was quite easy to score snookers, so I knew I had to maintain my attention and focus, because with his skill level, he could easily get three or four snookers against you,’ Stuart said.
‘It seemed pitiful to a lot of people, but I didn’t think so; I simply wanted to get the job done.’
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