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 | 23 |
| Minor-ranking | 7 |
| World Champion | |
Mark Anthony Selby (born 19 June 1983) is a professional snooker player from England. Many people think he is one of the best snooker players ever. He has been ranked as the world number one player many times.
Mark Selby has won 23 major snooker tournaments that count towards his ranking. This places him among the top players of all time. He has won the World Snooker Championship four times. He also won the Masters three times and the UK Championship twice. These three tournaments are called the Triple Crown events. Mark has won nine Triple Crown titles in total. Only a few players have won more.
He started playing professionally in 1999 when he was 16 years old. He first played in the World Championship in 2005. In 2007, he reached his first World Championship final. He won his first big title at the 2008 Masters. His first ranking title was the 2008 Welsh Open. Between 2014 and 2017, he won the World Championship three times in just four years. He became world number one for the first time in September 2011. He held this top spot for over four years between 2015 and 2019.
Mark Selby has made more than 800 "century breaks" in games. A century break is when a player scores 100 points or more in one turn. He has also made five "maximum breaks." A maximum break is the highest possible score in one turn (147 points). One of his maximum breaks was made during the final of the World Championships, which is very rare!
Besides snooker, Mark Selby is also a great pool player. He won the World Eight-ball Pool Federation championship in 2006. He was also second in the Chinese Eight-ball World Championship in 2015. This makes him the only man to be a world champion in both snooker and pool.
Contents
Mark Selby's Snooker Journey
Starting Out (1998–2007)
Mark Selby won the England Under-15 Championship in 1998. He became a professional player a year later when he was 16. In 2002, he reached the semi-finals of the China Open. He even made it to his first ranking final in 2003 at the Scottish Open. He finished second to David Gray. This helped him get into the top 32 players for the first time.
In 2005, Mark played in the main World Championship for the first time. He lost to John Higgins. The next year, he beat John Higgins in the first round.
In 2007, Mark Selby reached the final of the World Championship. He had some amazing wins on his way there. He came back from being far behind in some matches. In the final, he lost to John Higgins. After the match, Higgins said Selby was "the most improved player" on the tour. This great season helped Mark get into the top 16 players for the first time.
He also had a strong run in the 2007 UK Championship. He reached the semi-finals but lost to Ronnie O'Sullivan. O'Sullivan made a perfect 147 break in the last frame to win the match.
First Big Wins (2007–2010)
In January 2008, Mark Selby won his first major tournament, the Masters. He beat Stephen Lee 10–3 in the final. He played very well, making four century breaks.
Then, in February 2008, he won his first ranking title at the Welsh Open. He won a very close final against Ronnie O'Sullivan, 9–8. Even though he was a favorite, he lost in the first round of the 2008 World Championship.
In 2009, he reached the Masters final again. But he lost to Ronnie O'Sullivan. Later that season, he made it to the quarter-finals of the 2009 World Championship. He lost to John Higgins, who went on to win the title.
In January 2010, Mark Selby won his second Masters title. He beat Ronnie O'Sullivan in a thrilling final, 10–9. He was behind 6–9 but won the last four frames to take the trophy. He also reached the semi-finals of the 2010 World Championship.
Climbing the Ranks (2010–2013)
In July 2010, Mark won the Six-red World Championship. This is a different type of snooker game. In 2011, he reached the final of the China Open but lost to Judd Trump. He also set a new record for the most century breaks in a World Championship match. He made six centuries in one game!
Mark started the 2011–12 season by winning the Wuxi Classic. He then won his second ranking event at the Shanghai Masters. He beat Mark Williams 10–9 in the final. After this win, Mark Selby became the world number one for the first time! He also won another smaller tournament, the Paul Hunter Classic.
He continued to play well, reaching the quarter-finals of the Masters and German Masters in 2012. He also reached the final of the Welsh Open. Mark had to pull out of the China Open due to a neck injury. He still finished the season as world number one.
In the 2012–13 season, Mark Selby felt much better after his injury. He won the UK Championship, which was his third ranking title. This was a very important win for him. He beat Shaun Murphy 10–6 in the final. This win helped him get back to the world number one spot.
He also won the Paul Hunter Classic again. He won another event called the Munich Open. In January 2013, he won his third Masters title. He beat Neil Robertson 10–6 in the final. Mark Selby finished the season as world number one.
World Champion! (2013–2017)
In the 2013–14 season, Mark won the Antwerp Open. In December, he made snooker's 100th official maximum break (147 points) in a professional game. This happened during his semi-final match at the UK Championship. He received a big prize for this amazing achievement. He lost the final to Neil Robertson.
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At the 2014 World Championship, Mark Selby played incredibly well. He reached his second World Championship final. He faced Ronnie O'Sullivan, who had won the title for the past two years. Mark Selby came back from being behind to win the final 18–14. This was his first world title! He dedicated his win to his father, who had passed away when Mark was 16. With this victory, Mark Selby became the ninth player to win snooker's Triple Crown. He also returned to the world number one position.
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In the 2014–15 season, Mark won his fifth ranking title at the German Masters in 2015. He also won the China Open in April. He was the first player to win two ranking titles that season. His time as World Champion ended in the second round of the 2015 World Championship. But he still finished the season as world number one for the fourth year in a row.
In the 2015–16 season, Mark Selby won the Gdynia Open. In April, he played in the 2016 World Championship. He had a very long semi-final match against Marco Fu. One frame lasted 76 minutes, which was the longest in Crucible history! Mark won the match and then faced Ding Junhui in the final. He won the match 18–14 to claim his second world title. He finished as world number one for the fifth year in a row.
The 2016–17 season was amazing for Mark Selby. He won his first ranking title of the season at the Paul Hunter Classic. He then won the International Championship for the first time. He beat Ding Junhui 10–1 in the final.
At the 2016 UK Championship, he beat Ronnie O'Sullivan 10–7 in the final. This was his second UK title. He then won the China Open in April. In the 2017 World Championship, he faced John Higgins in the final. He came back from being behind to win 18–15. This was his third World Championship title! He became the fourth player to win the world title two years in a row. This was Mark Selby's fifth ranking title of the season, which tied a record. He also earned a record amount of prize money that season.
Recent Years (2017–Present)
In the 2017–18 season, Mark Selby won his first ranking title by defending his International Championship title. He also won his third China Open championship in April. However, his two-year reign as World Champion ended in the first round of the 2018 World Championship. Despite this, he still finished the season as world number one.
In the 2018–19 season, Mark won his 15th ranking title at the China Championship. He lost his world number one ranking in March 2019. He finished the season as world number six.
In the 2019–20 season, Mark Selby won the English Open. He also won the Scottish Open in December. He was the first player to win more than one tournament in the Home Nations Series in a single season. At the 2020 World Championship, he reached the semi-finals but lost 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, beating Ronnie O'Sullivan 9–3. In May 2021, Mark Selby won his fourth world title! He beat Shaun Murphy 18–15 in the final. He is now one of only five players to have won the championship four or more times.
In the 2021–22 season, Mark made his 700th century break. He reached the semi-finals of the World Grand Prix.
In the 2022–23 season, Mark Selby's form improved. He won the English Open for the second time. He also won the WST Classic tournament. At the 2023 World Snooker Championship, he made a maximum break (147 points) in the final against Luca Brecel. This was the first time a 147 had ever been made in a World Championship final! He lost the final 18–15.
In the 2023–24 season, Mark reached several semi-finals and finals. He won the Championship League, which was his first trophy of the season. His season ended in the first round of the 2024 World Snooker Championship. After this loss, Mark thought about retiring from snooker.
In September 2024, Mark Selby won the British Open, claiming his first ranking title since March 2023.
About Mark Selby's Life
Mark Selby was born in Leicester, England, on 19 June 1983. He started playing pool when he was eight years old and snooker when he was nine. A family friend and snooker coach, Alan Perkins, helped him a lot. Mark's father passed away when Mark was 16. Mark has said that winning the World Championship was for his late father.
Mark's nickname is "The Jester from Leicester." He got this name because he likes to joke around.
Mark is married to Vikki Layton, who used to be a professional pool player from Ireland. They got married in May 2011 and have a daughter named Sofia, who was born in 2014.
Mark Selby is a big fan of Leicester City F.C., a football team. His first World Championship win happened on the same day Leicester City celebrated moving up to the Premier League. Two years later, he won his second world title just minutes after his team won the Premier League title! He also enjoys darts.
In 2022, Mark Selby was given an MBE award. This is a special honor from the British King or Queen for his services to snooker and charity.
Mark Selby's Pool Career
Mark Selby is also very good at pool. In June 2006, he won the WEPF World Eightball Championship. He beat Darren Appleton in the final.
In 2015, he was second at the Chinese Eight-ball World Championship. He lost to Darren Appleton again in a very close final.
In 2022, Mark Selby teamed up with his brother-in-law Gareth Potts to win the Ultimate Pool Pairs Cup. This was amazing because he won this pool title just one day after winning the English Open in snooker! This means he won two live televised titles in two different cue sports in two days.
Images for kids
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Selby at the 2011 Paul Hunter Classic
