2017 International Championship

[JimMalone]

Now that he's getting closer, the pressure swings over to Allen and he's missing balls you'd expect him to get. This is turning out to be a very enjoyable final.

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Indeed. Respect to Allen for never giving up and making so much pressure on Selby. But with only one frame missing for the other Mark it was just a question of time until he would utilise on one chance.

[JimMalone]

2016 World Championship
2016 International Championship
2016 UK Championship
2017 World Championship
2017 International Championship

That's an incredible impressive streak of Selby, winning the biggest last five ranking events.

[PatBlock]

No post match interviews?

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[PatBlock]

2016 World Championship
2016 International Championship
2016 UK Championship
2017 World Championship
2017 International Championship

That's an incredible impressive streak of Selby, winning the biggest last five ranking events.

Yep, it's OK turning up every now and then and playing brilliantly for the odd tournament, but Selby's got the stamina, skill, and mental strength to keep himself right at the top of the game, long term.

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[Kargetina]

It's kind of interesting to me that as soon as Selby dropped the Jester persona somewhere around WC 2014, he has been nearly unstoppable.

He used to be a good player with great defensive skills that had just as much fun trying to make the audience laugh as he did making a century. He was a pretty bad ranking finals performer, winning only 3 out of 11 finals.

But ever since the WC 2014 final, he's a lot more confident, serious and pragmatic, and he has won 10 out of 11 ranking title since them including 3 World Championships, 2 International Championships, 1 UK Championship.

His ''Come on'' when he beat Ding in the semis at the Worlds, when he showed how competitive he has become, would have never happened during his career prior to 2014.

That 2014 final against Ronnie will go down in history as an era defining match.

[PatBlock]

It's kind of interesting to me that as soon as Selby dropped the Jester persona somewhere around WC 2014, he has been nearly unstoppable.

He used to be a good player with great defensive skills that had just as much fun trying to make the audience laugh as he did making a century. He was a pretty bad ranking finals performer, winning only 3 out of 11 finals.

But ever since the WC 2014 final, he's a lot more confident, serious and pragmatic, and he has won 10 out of 11 ranking title since them including 3 World Championships, 2 International Championships, 1 UK Championship.

His ''Come on'' when he beat Ding in the semis at the Worlds, when he showed how competitive he has become, would have never happened during his career prior to 2014.

That 2014 final against Ronnie will go down in history as an era defining match.

I think he lacked a little confidence in his own ability, and he had a few years where he was struggling with a back/neck injury, but then it just seemed to click for him, as it often does with players. He still likes a bit of banter now and then, but he definitely takes the game more seriously these days, as indeed he should.

Anyway, I think his nickname should be "The Hairster from Leicester"

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[Odrl]

Some interesting frames towards the end of the match, with Selby struggling to close it out. It was a little unusual for him, because he is normally a very strong front-runner. Early on in the second session the commentators were talking about the psychology of the game and a possible turning point when Selby missed a pot, but I always had the feeling he would win without much fuss in the end. He did lose a UK final against Neil Robertson from 5-1 up, but other than that I can't actually remember him losing from such a commanding position in any really big match. Well, today he came closer than he would have liked, that's for sure. :smile:

So, that's five in a row for Selby as far as the really big ranking events are concerned, which is the kind of domination I wouldn't really have expected from him a few years ago. I keep mentioning Mark Williams holding the four biggest titles in snooker at the same time 14 years ago, but I think Selby's run has now exceeded even that. Funnily enough, it was Williams who came the closest to beating him this week, missing a fairly simple brown when he needed just a couple of balls to lead 5-3, but Selby survived as he usually does. His win here even further establishes him as the best player in the world, without any competition really. The commentators keep joking that he could take a year off and still be world number 1, which is in fact completely true, and it looks like it will be true for some time yet, because he keeps putting back on all the points that get removed from two years ago. :wink:

Anyway, I thought this was a really good week of snooker. It was high quality throughout, as evidenced by all the century breaks we saw. Okay, the table wasn't the tightest we've seen, but at the same time it was not overly generous either. We also saw practically no kicks and relatively few big bounces, which is always welcome. We saw some close and exciting matches as well, and we could have seen a few more if the TV choices were a little more sensible at times.

On the negative side, it was unfortunate that both semi-finals were so one sided. Most people prefer the longer matches, so the two-session semi-finals here are a welcome addition in that regard, but unfortunately the semi-final matches we had in the last two editions of this tournament were not really a great advert for this format. Oh well, better luck next time I suppose. :smile: Also, the attendance could have been better obviously. This venue actually looks to be perfect for snooker, and I'm sure the atmosphere would have been great if it was full, so I hope steps are taken to improve attendance.

I'll keep one eye on the Champion of Champions, as always, but mainly looking forward to the Shanghai Masters in a week's time. :smile:

[PatBlock]

...Funnily enough, it was Williams who came the closest to beating him this week, missing a fairly simple brown when he needed just a couple of balls to lead 5-3, but Selby survived as he usually does...

That was an incredible miss wasn't it, I thought right then it would define the match.

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