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Re: Mark Selby 2014 World Champion

Postby Skullman

No guarantee he will. MJW himself never won another major after his Triple Crown in one season.

Plus there's more to the game than majors. Even if Selby got to 7 majors, unless he was very close to MJW's tally of 18 rankers, he'd still be behind him in achievements.

Re: Mark Selby 2014 World Champion

Postby Holden Chinaski

Snooker Overdrive wrote:Also an interesting question:

Neil Robertson and Mark Selby are the two best players of their generation (I'm not including Ding here).

Who will be regarded as the better player at the end of their careers?

That's a though one. Very hard to chose between Robbo, Selby and Ding. As things stand now all three are about equal for me. Ding has 11 ranking titles now, that's pretty impressive. But Robbo and Selby have won the worlds... Time will tell.

Re: Mark Selby 2014 World Champion

Postby GJ

Snooker Overdrive wrote:Also an interesting question:

Neil Robertson and Mark Selby are the two best players of their generation (I'm not including Ding here).

Who will be regarded as the better player at the end of their careers?


There is so little between both I think both will continue to win their share of the big events in the coming seasons.

Re: Mark Selby 2014 World Champion

Postby Sickpotter

NNear wrote:Good win but I'm not sure it automatically means Selby will be any harder to stop next season than also the other top players in the rankings. I think it's game on and that's all really.

I find it unlikely that any single player will dominate the next year.


I think we could see a player dominate but it will require a change in their overall game to a more matchplay style.

Everyone saw Hendry and Ronnie winning with lots of big breaks and so that's what they tried to emulate with varying degrees of success. IMO this resulted in a generation of players (and passing fans) more concerned with pretty play than winning so no one really dominates.

Finally Selby has shown that tough matchplay is the way to beat players who are better potters/breakbuilders. Tactical nuance is just as if not more important than knocking in big breaks.

Davis was a master of this. While a tremendous break builder/potter in his prime, Davis was first and foremost a supreme tactician who rarely gave his opponents a sniff. He wasn't concerned about breaking down on 50 and prone to try a risky pot to keep a break going. He'd just roll up or bury his opponent with a tough safety and pick up the 20 odd points to secure the frame when he got let back in.

The game is about winning, not looking pretty while you do it.

Thank you Selby for reminding everyone that snooker is not simply potting. :hatoff:

Re: Mark Selby 2014 World Champion

Postby TheRocket

vodkadiet wrote:Selby owns Rigsby's ass. For life!!!

:happy: :happy: :happy: :happy: :happy: :happy:


Uhm no. O'Sullivan still beat him in two Masters finals and that will stay forever. A defeat in the World final is always rubbish but even a legend like Davis lost to someone like Taylor and Johnson who are both clearly weaker than Selby and Hendry lost to Doherty and Ebdon who I also regard as weaker than Selby. Overall there is definitely no shame in losing to Selby.

Re: Mark Selby 2014 World Champion

Postby Roland

NNear wrote:Good win but I'm not sure it automatically means Selby will be any harder to stop next season than also the other top players in the rankings. I think it's game on and that's all really.

I find it unlikely that any single player will dominate the next year.


I see it differently. I think had John Higgins not played like god and knocked Selby out of the 2009 Worlds he would have won that year and cleaned up way more titles than he has in the mean time. He's reached god knows how many finals this season and has had severe spells of playing poorly as if he had no confidence in his own game. From 9-9 in the first round something clicked and he started to believe in himself. Now he's finally won the big one, and now he's number 1 without people calling him false because he's not won the big one I think he'll be a lot more mellow inside and I think he'll be very very dangerous for the next 3 to 5 years and will win a lot of big events.

Re: Mark Selby 2014 World Champion

Postby GJ

I agree I think he will win a lot more majors

Re: Mark Selby 2014 World Champion

Postby Andre147

TheRocket wrote:
vodkadiet wrote:Selby owns Rigsby's ass. For life!!!

:happy: :happy: :happy: :happy: :happy: :happy:


Uhm no. O'Sullivan still beat him in two Masters finals and that will stay forever. A defeat in the World final is always rubbish but even a legend like Davis lost to someone like Taylor and Johnson who are both clearly weaker than Selby and Hendry lost to Doherty and Ebdon who I also regard as weaker than Selby. Overall there is definitely no shame in losing to Selby.


Of course it isnt, much better than losing to Perry for instance.

It's just Vodka you know who has this obcession with Ronnie, a player he says he doesnt like <laugh>

Re: Mark Selby 2014 World Champion

Postby TheRocket

Andre147 wrote:
TheRocket wrote:
vodkadiet wrote:Selby owns Rigsby's ass. For life!!!

:happy: :happy: :happy: :happy: :happy: :happy:


Uhm no. O'Sullivan still beat him in two Masters finals and that will stay forever. A defeat in the World final is always rubbish but even a legend like Davis lost to someone like Taylor and Johnson who are both clearly weaker than Selby and Hendry lost to Doherty and Ebdon who I also regard as weaker than Selby. Overall there is definitely no shame in losing to Selby.


Of course it isnt, much better than losing to Perry for instance.

It's just Vodka you know who has this obcession with Ronnie, a player he says he doesnt like <laugh>


That's the strange thing. He's calling you fanboy because according to him you care too much about Ronnie but at the same time he's hung up on him more than anybody here. rofl

Re: Mark Selby 2014 World Champion

Postby NNear

He's a great talent. He has the complete game, even if not always all aspects fire on maximum cylinders. Perhaps that's his next step now, consistency of his completeness.

Re: Mark Selby 2014 World Champion

Postby NNear

Sonny wrote:
NNear wrote:Good win but I'm not sure it automatically means Selby will be any harder to stop next season than also the other top players in the rankings. I think it's game on and that's all really.

I find it unlikely that any single player will dominate the next year.


I see it differently. I think had John Higgins not played like god and knocked Selby out of the 2009 Worlds he would have won that year and cleaned up way more titles than he has in the mean time. He's reached god knows how many finals this season and has had severe spells of playing poorly as if he had no confidence in his own game. From 9-9 in the first round something clicked and he started to believe in himself. Now he's finally won the big one, and now he's number 1 without people calling him false because he's not won the big one I think he'll be a lot more mellow inside and I think he'll be very very dangerous for the next 3 to 5 years and will win a lot of big events.


If he does hats off to him but his competition is really fierce. Ding will feel like he has a lot to prove to himself next year at the biggest events, I'm sure. The reaction to Ronnie's loss has been way OTT and I feel the same somewhat about Selby's win though to a lesser degree. To me, the tour is still in a state of limbo.. or equality.

Re: Mark Selby 2014 World Champion

Postby Roland

How has it been OTT? It's always like this when a player wins the big one.

The big four are Selby, Robbo, Ronnie and Ding at the moment. They'll clean up next season. What do you mean by in limbo?

Re: Mark Selby 2014 World Champion

Postby Vallomas

Mark must be a nice guy and with good character. Maybe I don't like the way he plays (too much tactics, I prefer more natural snooker), but he is a very likeable guy. I wish him the best for the future.

Re: Mark Selby 2014 World Champion

Postby NNear

Sonny wrote:How has it been OTT? It's always like this when a player wins the big one.

The big four are Selby, Robbo, Ronnie and Ding at the moment. They'll clean up next season. What do you mean by in limbo?


Exactly, those are the big four and Trump is capable of joining them. they, as in they, will probably clean up next season. Point being that I don't see Selby as any more dangerous than he has been over the last few seasons or separating himself from the others. It doesn't mean it's impossible for a player to do that such as Ding, Selby, Ronnie or someone else, but I still sense equality and not really a shift -- time will tell.

Limbo: an uncertain period of awaiting a decision or resolution; an intermediate state or condition.

So I was just saying equality, basically... there has been no decision or resolution of a dominant force in the game. I used the word equality after because the choice of the word limbo was a bit questionable as I was only using it to pertain to a dominant force and not to infer that having equality is not a decision or a resolution. Tangent aside...

OTT because I have seen comments bordering on obituaries for Ronnie and for Selby, like I said far less extreme but I'm more hesitant to jump the gun than in some of the posts I've seen. If all you were doing was stating that Selby will be dangerous in the future as he is now and has been for a few years then I agree. Would I put money on him to become the relative alphamale of the next 3 years of snooker (not necessarily Hendry dominance but a clear sort of top dog in the Lendl mould)? No I wouldn't. At the same time would I be surprised if he did? Also, no I wouldn't, but I also wouldn't be surprised if it was somebody else.

Re: Mark Selby 2014 World Champion

Postby Roland

If it's to be anyone else it will be Ding. What I mean about Selby now is that look at how many finals he's failed to convert in his career and from this point on watch how many he converts in future because it will be a lot higher percentage, trust me.

Re: Mark Selby 2014 World Champion

Postby NNear

Sonny wrote:If it's to be anyone else it will be Ding. What I mean about Selby now is that look at how many finals he's failed to convert in his career and from this point on watch how many he converts in future because it will be a lot higher percentage, trust me.


I agree that he'll rectify his winning % in ranking finals.

Re: Mark Selby 2014 World Champion

Postby Skullman

I'm interested to see how Selby plays against Ding next season. I was thinking throughout this season that Ding has basically played all the top players except Selby en route to his five rankers (and one final).

(I'm also intrigued as to how a Selby v Judd match up would go as they've not faced each other since that China Open final, PTCs aside).

Re: Mark Selby 2014 World Champion

Postby NNear

Guess it won't take us too long to find out those things. Yeah, those will be highly anticipated match-ups.

Re: Mark Selby 2014 World Champion

Postby Roland

I know I like to rattle on about Selby but hell, if today isn't the day to do that then I don't know what is.

The way I see it, he's made his name by playing his best snooker when his back is against the wall, when he's looked like losing. He was won an incredible amount of matches from needing the last 2, 3 or 4 frames to win. That's how he reached his first final in 2007, he was 16-14 down to Murphy and won 17-16. It's been taken down from Youtube for some reason but he was so close to making it 15-15 that even when Murphy scraped that 30th frame he was 2nd favourite for the match.

What was so frustrating with him was the way he could never get off to a good start. Then he became World Number One and had that horrible edginess about his game whenever he played as though he felt the pressure of expectation too much. He could always handle the pressure of the match, but never the pressure of expectation.

In the last year or so he learned how to get off to a good start, but then he started to lose matches when he started off like a steam train, as though the pressure of holding and increasing a lead was too much for him. He would prefer to be behind.

What he's laid to rest in the last couple of weeks is that he's proved to himself he can get off to a good start and hold that lead. He did it against Carter and Robbo, and against McManus he did what he should and pull away into the distance. Now he's the complete package. He can win from in front and from behind.

Re: Mark Selby 2014 World Champion

Postby vodkadiet

Sonny wrote:I know I like to rattle on about Selby but hell, if today isn't the day to do that then I don't know what is.

The way I see it, he's made his name by playing his best snooker when his back is against the wall, when he's looked like losing. He was won an incredible amount of matches from needing the last 2, 3 or 4 frames to win. That's how he reached his first final in 2007, he was 16-14 down to Murphy and won 17-16. It's been taken down from Youtube for some reason but he was so close to making it 15-15 that even when Murphy scraped that 30th frame he was 2nd favourite for the match.

What was so frustrating with him was the way he could never get off to a good start. Then he became World Number One and had that horrible edginess about his game whenever he played as though he felt the pressure of expectation too much. He could always handle the pressure of the match, but never the pressure of expectation.

In the last year or so he learned how to get off to a good start, but then he started to lose matches when he started off like a steam train, as though the pressure of holding and increasing a lead was too much for him. He would prefer to be behind.

What he's laid to rest in the last couple of weeks is that he's proved to himself he can get off to a good start and hold that lead. He did it against Carter and Robbo, and against McManus he did what he should and pull away into the distance. Now he's the complete package. He can win from in front and from behind.


Yes, it is as though he gets into a cocoon of intense concentration whenever he is under severe pressure.

Re: Mark Selby 2014 World Champion

Postby Skullman

I think that neck injury really set him back (more so than we thought).

At the Welsh Open I think he really started to feel comfortable win his WN1 position. Then he got into the latter stages more and started the China Open like a train, smashing his opponent.

After the injury, he obviously had that loss to Hawkins, but I think he lost confidence in his game and with the exception of his matches against Mavis in the UK, Robbo in the Masters and Ding and Un-Nooh in Berlin, didn't look that great throughout the season, despite winning more.

Same with this season, with some good matches (Murphy in the Masters, Antwerp PTC, Mags in the Coc) but generally getting by on pure grit.

Luckily something just clicked this fortnight.