In 2016 Mark Selby won the World Championship and the UK Championship but can the ‘Jester of Leicester’ win the Masters title to make it a triple crown?
Three players have ever won the triple crown in snooker. Only Steve Davis, Stephen Hendry and Mark Williams are in the very exclusive club and Mark Selby wants his name in there too.
“It’s a very elite group that have won the triple crown in the same season, and some great players who haven’t, so to hold all three at the same time would be unbelievable,” Selby said.
“That’s certainly my aim this week, and it would be another one to tick off the bucket list.”
The Masters is by no means an easy event to win. Each and every match is difficult no matter what way the draw works out, but there is one player nobody wants to meet and that’s Mark Selby.
There has been little or no hype about Mark Selby in this year’s Masters. All the talk has been around Ronnie O’Sullivan, Judd Trump and John Higgins which we’ve come to expect as the norm from the media.
Mark Selby finds himself in a similar position to Steve Davis in the 1980’s, where Davis was perceived as the ‘boring’ player but most of the fans were routing for Alex Higgins.
Fast forward to 2017 and we have a similar set-up but different names.
Ronnie O’Sullivan is an interesting character and the type of player who speaks his mind and the public love him for it. They love his style of snooker and the charisma he boasts. It’s no secret that Ronnie is the most talented player of all time. That said, Ronnie seems to be petrified of playing Selby.
In a recent interview O’Sullivan said; “I have a lot of respect for Mark Selby. He is by far the best player in the world right now and a tremendous talent.”
O’Sullivan was beaten by Mark Selby in the final of the UK Championship by 10-7.
For many, Selby is considered ‘boring’ due to the lack of flamboyant snooker played by the World No.1. Often he is forgotten as a contender for tournaments particularly on social networks such as Facebook and Twitter, lost behind fans shouting for O’Sullivan and Trump.
Selby is by no means the people’s champion, but he is a champion of snooker and is the best all-round player in the world right now.
Take a look at the headlines right now for example. Most of the snooker news is tailored around Ronnie O’Sullivan and his chances of winning the Masters. Why? Because it sells!
Mark Selby opens his Masters campaign on Wednesday against his good friend, Mark Williams.
“On paper I will be the favourite, but there are always surprises at the Masters – look at Ronnie O’Sullivan on Sunday, he was a ball away from going out against Liang Wenbo.”
