By Elliott West
“I have come from the well and back”.
Mark Selby
Introduction
The road to Damascus was an arduous journey and Mark Selby has had a similar one in the last nineteen months. Since he won the 2021 World Championship in jubilant fashion, the taps of joy have lost their washers and the water has run dry. Plagued by neck problems and his own inner turmoil of carrying the daily grief of losing his father at an early age, Selby, like any great sportsman, had to face his health problems and his black dog of depression head-on. An exercise that was not only physically painful but mental as well.
“If it weren’t for Vikki, I wouldn’t be sitting here now”
Mark Selby
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Thanks to the love and support of his family, friends and empathy of his snooker fans, Mark has recovered, which has also been reflected in his standard of play. What a difference a year makes! Selby has returned to almost the level of the peak of his form, a play who shares Cliff Thorburn’s art of grinding out a match with clever safety play and someone who can’t resist prising a frame from the fingertips of his opponent.
The misses and schoolboy errors have been erased from his game and replaced by the furious match play that even Ronnie O’Sullivan fears. So it was only a matter of time before the player they nickname ‘The Jester’ before this stylish snooker regained his winning ways. This came to fruition in the last tournament of 2022, the English Open, held at the Brentwood Centre in Essex. An event that was praised for its atmosphere and fan interaction but less so for the venue. One that initially provided artic conditions due to a problem with a burst water pipe that prevented the heating from functioning.
A Return to Glory
Mark Selby came up against the very talented Belgian player, Luca Brecel in the final of the English Open and it is fair to say that Luca gave Mark a run for his money. With a hefty prize of £80,000 to the winner, this certainly wasn’t an amount to be scoffed at. At 4-4 after the afternoon session, there were errors made by other players but Selby definitely played the better of the two. So it fell to the evening to decide a winner and determine who would lift the glass trophy dedicated to Steve Davis.
Luca produced a valiant effort that must have sent Mark Williams into a moment of frenzy when he almost accomplished a 147 break missing a black on a break of 113 during the match but in the end, it was Mark who won the match 9-6. You could see the pressure wash away from Mark, breaking into tears not only at his own achievement but by just looking over at his wife Vikki and daughter Sophia. This was a tear-jerking moment that was almost reminiscent of Alex Higgins winning the 1982 World Championship. Selby gave it his all and the hard work paid off. He was the better player on the night and his efforts propelled him back to number one in the rankings as a result.
Those tears shed into his black towel were genuine and summed up the few years that he had been suffering silently. Selby was back and again a threat to anyone he played. Luca Brecel proved once again that he didn’t mind who he played in any final of any match. The top players don’t phase him, he plays the same game every time. A hot shot who is entertaining to watch and is never afraid to take on that pot many players may choose to avoid.
