Mark Selby wins the Paul Hunter Classic

Photo by: Monique Limbos
Written by: Rachael Rodgers

Mark Selby won the Paul Hunter classic or PTC 4  4-0 beating Mark Davis, who had been a very strong contender until he faced Selby.  Audiences had thought Ronnie O'sullivan would walk away with his second PTC title of the year after he completed a fantastic 147,  before sitting down and looking very unbothered by the audiences reactions to what they had seen.
This win for Selby sees him listed at World number 2, his 2,000 ranking points means he has edged above John Higgins although Mark Williams is still at world number 1.  Runner up Mark Davis has also bagged himself a all time career high at 15 in the world, if he can keep his place before the next ranking up date he will no longer need to attend qualifying matches.

Mark Selby Wuxi winner

Written by Rachael Rodgers

Mark Selby was last night crown the Wuxi Classic winner, after his tremendous match against Ali Carter, which when the match drawn all level at 4-4 at the end of the first round, but when play commenced in the second session, Mark took control and won 9-7.   The win is a welcome come for Selby who last year made it to two amazing finals both in ther German masters and the China Open, losing to Judd Trump and Mark Williams. The win will supply extra confidence to Selby who plays as a team with Ali Carter in the World Cup in Bangkok.


"If Ali and I play as well next week then we have a great chance to win the World Cup. It's strange to think that today I was willing him to miss balls and next week I'll be willing him to pot everything. He's a great player and we'll be a strong team."

Selby flies to Bangkok with a cheque worth £20,000 and the hope he an Carter can beat the best Snooker players from across the country and do something the English football team fail to do and lift the world cup trophy. Good luck guys!

Selby Dethroned by King

World number 16 Mark King put in one of his best displays of recent times to knock out defending champion Mark Selby in the opening round of the Masters.

King recovered from 2-0 down to defeat Selby, the world number six, 6-4.
The Essex player got back into it with a 139 break and led 4-2 before Selby levelled at 4-4 with a break of 106.
King then led 5-4 and in a tense 10th frame the players agreed to a re-rack and, despite an error, King recovered to clinch victory.
Selby had previously lost just one match at Wembley in three years, and that in the 2009 final against Ronnie O'Sullivan, a result he avenged in the title match 12 months ago for his second title after also triumphing in 2008.
But King, who will face Shaun Murphy or Jamie Cope in the quarter-finals, revealed it was what he perceived as a somewhat premature celebration from Selby which inspired his performance.
"Mark is a fantastic player and this is like his back yard, but he won the second frame and put his cue up and it gave me the hump a bit," King said.
"He was pleased to win it on the black but I thought, 'Hang on, you're only 2-0 up'."
King also was pleased that the hard work he has put in over the winter is finally paying dividends.
"I am the worst break-builder there is in the top 16," added the 36-year-old.
"I don't make tons, I get in and make 30 or 20, but ever since the UK Championship I have been really working on it and I went to China with Stephen Hendry and got a little bit of advice from him."

Selby after Hunter's record

Mark Selby hopes to match Paul Hunter’s achievement by winning the Masters three times in four years.

The Jester from Leicester defends his title in snooker’s most prestigious invitation tournament next month.

Selby has an amazing record in the Masters, winning it on his debut in 2008 and again last year, and reaching the final in 2009.

In all, he has won 11 of the 12 matches he has played in the event.

This season’s tournament runs from January 9 to 16 at Wembley Arena and Leicester’s Selby hopes to get level with the late Hunter, who lifted the trophy in 2001, 2002 and 2004.

“To win it for a third time in four years and match Paul’s achievement would be brilliant,” said Selby.

“I’ve got a very good record in the event, I love playing at Wembley and it tends to bring the best out of me.

“The atmosphere in the last two finals against Ronnie O’Sullivan is the best I’ve ever played in.

“Ronnie beat me in 2009 then I beat him last year, so it would be great to meet him in the final for a third time.

“The public might start to get bored of seeing us in the final every year, but I wouldn’t mind!”

Selby believes that the strength of the field makes the Masters harder than ever to win.

“The players are so sharp now because we’ve had a lot more tournaments, so the standard is higher than ever,” said the 27-year-old.

“Plus you’ve got the likes of John Higgins and Mark Williams right back in form, as they showed at the UK Championship.

“John has proved time and time again what a class player he is, and I never doubted that he would be back winning tournaments.

“There’s a very strong group of younger players like myself, Neil Robertson, Ding Junhui and Shaun Murphy who are all well capable of winning the big tournaments.

“I’ve been consistent this season and won a couple of smaller events, but I would love to go all the way at the Masters.”

Selby faces Mark King in the opening match of the tournament on Sunday, January 9 at 1.30pm.

Power Snooker - Ali Carter V's Mark Selby

Two equally matched players, face each in the new battle which is Power snooker, after watching Ronnie O'Sullivan see off Luca Brecel, the crowd began to realise that the tides had changed and that now, noise is more than accepted. So on came the on slaught of crowd interaction and abuse. Ali Carter took a healthy lead  from the start, as a clearly tired Mark Selby seemed to struggle to get into the balls. As the half an hour ticked down Mark slowly but surely started to catch up on Ali, it then became a battle of wits. Ali didn't turn to saftey play to waste his time on the table, he instead decided to waste some of his 20 second shot time to walk round the table before having to run back to the balk, to take a shot which was basically a shot to nothing, putting Mark Selby back in the balls, not that he had any time to fix the deficit in scores, this lead to the crowd chanting cheat at Ali when he came back to the table, to finsih the winner.