Mark Selby facts for kids
Selby at the 2020 Champion of Champions
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| Born | 19 June 1983 Leicester, England |
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| Sport country |  England |
| Professional | 1999–present |
| Highest ranking | 1 (Sep 2011–Nov 2012; Dec 2012–Feb 2013; Apr–Jun 2013; May–Jul 2014; Aug–Dec 2014; Feb 2015–Mar 2019; Aug–Oct 2021; Nov 2021–Apr 2022) |
| Current ranking | 1 (as of 8 May 2018) |
| Tournament wins | |
| Ranking | 24 |
| Minor-ranking | 7 |
| World Champion | |
Mark Anthony Selby is an English professional snooker player. He was born on June 19, 1983. Mark has been ranked as the world number one many times. He has won 24 major snooker tournaments. This puts him eighth on the list of players with the most wins.
Mark Selby has won the World Snooker Championship four times. He also won the Masters three times and the UK Championship twice. These nine wins are part of the Triple Crown titles. Only a few players have won more.
He started playing professionally in 1999 when he was 16. Mark reached his first World Championship final in 2007. He won his first big title at the 2008 Masters. He became world number one in 2011. He held that top spot for over four years, from 2015 to 2019. Mark has made over 800 century breaks. A century break is when a player scores 100 points or more in one turn. He has also made six maximum breaks. A maximum break is the highest possible score in one turn, 147 points. One of these was in a World Championship final, which is very rare!
Mark is also a great pool player. He won the WEPF World Eightball Championship in 2006. He was also a runner-up at the Chinese Eight-ball World Championship in 2015. This means he has been a world champion in two different cue sports. In 2022, he won the Ultimate Pool Pairs Cup with his brother-in-law, Gareth Potts.
Contents
Snooker Career Highlights
Early Years (1998–2007)
Mark Selby won the England Under-15 Championship in 1998. He became a professional snooker player in 1999. In 2002, he reached the semi-finals of the China Open. The next year, he made it to his first final at the Scottish Open. He finished second to David Gray. This helped him get into the top 32 players.
In 2005, Mark played in the World Championship for the first time. He lost to John Higgins. But in 2006, he beat John Higgins in the same tournament. Mark reached the final of the 2007 World Championship. He beat many strong players like Peter Ebdon and Shaun Murphy. In the final, he lost to John Higgins. But everyone could see how much he had improved.
First Big Wins (2007–2010)
In 2008, Mark Selby won his first major tournament, the Masters. He beat Stephen Lee in the final. He played very well, making four century breaks. Soon after, he won his first ranking title at the Welsh Open. He beat Ronnie O'Sullivan in a very close match.
In 2009, Mark reached the Masters final again, but lost to Ronnie O'Sullivan. He also made it to the quarter-finals of the World Championship. In 2010, he won his second Masters title. He beat Ronnie O'Sullivan in a thrilling final, coming back from behind to win 10–9. He also reached the semi-finals of the World Championship that year.
Becoming World Number One (2010–2013)
In 2010, Mark won the Six-red World Championship. In 2011, he reached the final of the China Open. He also set a new record for the most century breaks in a World Championship match. He made six centuries in one match!
Mark started the 2011–12 season by winning the Wuxi Classic. He then won his second ranking event at the Shanghai Masters. This win made him the world number one for the first time. He also won the Paul Hunter Classic. Despite a neck injury in 2012, he finished the season as world number one.
In the 2012–13 season, Mark won his first UK Championship title. This was his third ranking title. He beat Shaun Murphy in the final. He also won his third Masters title in 2013. He beat Neil Robertson in the final. He briefly lost his world number one spot but quickly got it back.
First World Championship Title (2013–2014)
In 2013, Mark made snooker's 100th official maximum break at the UK Championship. He received a big prize for this amazing achievement. He reached the final of the UK Championship but lost to Neil Robertson.
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In 2014, Mark reached the Masters final again, but lost to Ronnie O'Sullivan. Later that year, he won his first World Snooker Championship title. He beat Ronnie O'Sullivan in the final, coming back from a big deficit. He dedicated his win to his late father. This victory also made him world number one again.
More Success (2014–2019)
Mark continued to win titles. In 2015, he won the German Masters and the China Open. He became the first player to win two ranking titles in the 2014–15 season. He finished the season as world number one for the fourth year in a row.
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In 2016, Mark won his second World Championship title. He beat Ding Junhui in the final. This made him world number one for the fifth year in a row. In the 2016–17 season, he won five ranking titles. This included his third World Championship title, beating John Higgins in the final. He also won his second UK Championship. He earned a record amount of prize money that season.
In 2017, Mark won his second International Championship title. In 2018, he won his third China Open title. His two-year reign as World Champion ended in 2018 when he lost in the first round. However, he still finished the season as world number one. In 2018, he won his 15th ranking title at the China Championship. He lost his world number one ranking in March 2019.
Recent Seasons (2019–Present)
In the 2019–20 season, Mark won the English Open and the Scottish Open. He was the first player to win more than one tournament in the Home Nations Series in a single season. He reached the semi-finals of the World Championship in 2020, losing a very close match to Ronnie O'Sullivan.
In the 2020–21 season, Mark won his 18th ranking title at the European Masters. He also successfully defended his Scottish Open title. In May 2021, he won his fourth World Championship title. He beat Shaun Murphy in the final. This made him one of only five players to win the championship four or more times at the Crucible.
The 2021–22 season was tough for Mark. He struggled with his mental health, which affected his game. He still reached the semi-finals of the World Grand Prix and the quarter-finals of the Masters. He also made his 700th century break, a big milestone.
In the 2022–23 season, Mark's form improved. He reached the final of the World Mixed Doubles. He won the English Open for the second time. This made him the second player to win four Home Nations tournaments. He also won the WST Classic tournament. At the 2023 World Championship, he made the first ever maximum break in a World Championship final. He finished as runner-up in that final.
In the 2023–24 season, Mark reached several semi-finals and finals. He won the invitational Championship League, his first trophy of the season. He also won the Macau exhibition event. He made his 800th century break in his career.
In September 2024, Mark won the British Open, his first ranking title since March 2023. In February 2025, he won the Welsh Open for the second time, marking his 24th ranking title. He also reached the final of the Tour Championship in 2025.
Personal Life
Mark Selby was born in Leicester, England. He started playing pool at age eight and snooker at age nine. A family friend, Alan Perkins, helped him practice for free. Mark's father passed away when Mark was 16. Alan Perkins encouraged him to keep playing snooker. Mark's nickname is "The Jester from Leicester."
Mark is married to Vikki Layton, a former Irish international pool player. They got married in Mexico in 2011 and have a daughter named Sofia. Mark is a big fan of Leicester City F.C.. His World Championship wins often happened around the same time his favorite football team had big victories!
Mark Selby was given an MBE award in 2022. This was for his achievements in snooker and his charity work.
Pool Career
Mark Selby is also a very skilled pool player. He plays blackball (English eight-ball) and Chinese eight-ball. In 2006, he won the WEPF World Eightball Championship. He beat Darren Appleton in the final.
In 2015, Mark was the runner-up at the first Chinese Eight-ball World Championship. He lost to Darren Appleton in a very close final. In 2022, Mark teamed up with his brother-in-law, Gareth Potts, to win the Ultimate Pool Pairs Cup. He won two televised tournaments in two different cue sports in two days!
Images for kids
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Selby at the 2011 Paul Hunter Classic
See also
In Spanish: Mark Selby para niños
