Selby sets sights on Crucible

Mark Selby, on a high after becoming a world ranking event winner for the first time, is convinced he has what it takes to capture the game’s premier title.

After fighting back from the dead to edge Ronnie O’Sullivan 9-8 in a gripping climax to the Welsh Open at Newport last night, super confident Selby insisted he can now be crowned king of the Crucible in May.

“There’s no reason why I can’t be world champion,” said the 24 year-old from Leicester, who is in the form of his life after securing the Saga Masters title at Wembley last month.

“I’ve just beaten probably the best player ever to pick up a cue in a big final and from well behind into the bargain. Why shouldn’t I be confident going to the Crucible?”

Given his post-match analysis last night, though, it is clear that O’Sullivan will not relish facing the tenacious and stubborn Selby.

“He makes it so hard. With Mark everything is kind of deliberate, slow even. It’s tough to concentrate against him,” admitted O’Sullivan, who historically is more vulnerable against the sport’s more methodical players.

“I don’t know that he’s talented. He’s negative. He never takes on a ball if he’s going to leave it. He’s a bit like Graeme Dott and Peter Ebdon in that respect.

“You’re in for long bouts of safety with Mark and it’s really difficult to build up any kind of rhythm against him. It’s more like an endurance test.”

During the opening session, which dragged on for a little over three hours, O’Sullivan spent the lengthy periods he was confined to his chair with pen and paper “writing stories”.

He was also seen mouthing “I’m bored” during a marathon fifth frame but, even so, the hare looked set to beat the tortoise when he compiled a 108 break to draw level at 4-4, then on the re-start last night, burst clear at 8-5, assisted by runs of 93, 135, 63 and 54.

At that stage O’Sullivan appeared certain to join Steve Davis and Stephen Hendry as only the third player to win 20 world ranking tournaments but Selby had other ideas.

Half-chances slipped through O’Sullivan’s fingers and Selby rode his luck - most notably fluking a snooker when 32 points adrift in frame 16 – to carry the Welsh Open final its full distance for the sixth time in the last 10 years.

From a red, potted at an acute angle to a middle pocket, Selby made 48 to occupy the driver’s seat before O’Sullivan was presented with one last chance to steal it.

However, having failed to dislodge the last red from the side cushion he lost his head and took on an extremely risky double to a middle pocket.

Selby added: “I didn’t think I had much hope at 8-5 but I just kept punching and trying to keep a positive vibe.

“I wasn’t cueing well but I knew if I dug deep and made things scrappy it wasn’t over.

“It was something special to win the Masters but this means so much. I felt more nervous at the start and in the middle of the match than I did at the end.”

Selby becomes the fifth player to make the Welsh Open his maiden world ranking tournament win after Ken Doherty (1993), Mark Williams (1996), the late Paul Hunter (1998) and Neil Robertson (2007).

He has won £235,000 (€312,942) this season and improved to fourth in the provisional world rankings, his best position since turning professional as a 15 year-old in 1999.