Mark Selby brushes off last year’s Crucible nightmare as match he ‘couldn’t win’

Mark Selby suffered a big upset defeat in the first round of the 2025 World Snooker Championship, but it is no concern to him as he returns, seeing it as a match he couldn’t win.

Selby arrived in Sheffield last year as one of the favourites after winning the British Open and Welsh Open in a good 2024/25 season.

The four-time champion was heavy favourite for his opening contest against fellow Leicester cueist Ben Woollaston, but a big surprise was sprung.

Selby started the match well, with a century in the first and made a 135 to take a 5-4 lead, but fell to a 10-8 loss after a nightmare second session.

A split tip was the issue for the Jester from Leicester, which was clearly hugely disappointing at the time, but means he can excuse the defeat rather than feeling scarred by it.

‘Ben played well, taking nothing away from Ben, but first session, I miscued and my tip split,’ Selby explained. ‘We had a day in between because I think it was an evening-evening, so I went back to the apartment and my friend came up from Nuneaton to put a new tip on and when he took my tip off, he said, “oh your ferrule’s loose, I can do it, but I’m going to have to take it off and stick it back on.”

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‘Unless you put it back on in the same place, it’s always going to play different. I’m sat in the apartment while he’s doing it, just watching him, looking at my cue with no ferrule and no tip. I said to [wife] Vicky at the time, “I can’t win.”

‘He put it back on, done a good job, bless him, but I went to Victoria’s Academy, had a few shots and it just felt like a totally different cue.

‘Going into the next day I had no confidence whatsoever playing certain shots, especially shots with side, I just didn’t know what I was going to do.

‘Obviously, I tried my hardest to get through, because I thought if I could get through that game, I probably had three or four days and then I’d have just gone back and put a new ferrule on, and that still wouldn’t have been ideal, but at least I still gave myself a chance.

‘It just wasn’t to be, but also at the same time, Ben played good as well, so all credit to him. He can only do what he can do, and that’s just beat the player who’s in front of you, which he did.’

The 42-year-old has had another good season, winning the UK Championship, Champion of Champions and Invitational Championship League, although results have been trickier to come by in recent weeks.

Selby sees it more that he has run into players in great form than his own level has dipped, though, and is confident heading into his 22nd straight Crucible campaign.

‘I feel like I played some good stuff this year, and even when I’ve lost games, sometimes I felt like my opponents have just played brilliant as well,’ he said.

‘For instance, the Tour Championship, 8-5 up against John [Higgins], I feel like I’m playing good. Next minute, I lose 10-8 and basically missed one ball at 9-8 and didn’t really do much wrong.

‘It’s taking somebody playing at the top of their game to beat me. So, as long as I carry on playing somewhere near that kind of form, then I’ll go in there and be confident that I’ve got a chance.’

The world number seven has a tricky test in round one against 2024 finalist Jak Jones, although he has given up caring who he is drawn against.

‘Over the years I used to look at the draw and think, “I don’t want him, don’t want him, don’t want him, don’t mind him, don’t mind him,” but I’m past caring now,’ he said.

‘I’m coming to try and win the tournament, so I’m not coming here to just get past the first round and if I lose in the last 16, I’m happy. If you come here to win, you’ve got five tough matches, whoever they are.

‘Obviously Jak’s going to be a tough game, goes without saying, former World finalist, used to be a seed here just last year. But at the same time, it sort of makes your job easier because I know that if I don’t go out there and play good snooker, I’m going home.’

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