Selby hopes for more

MARK Selby finds it hard to believe that he is now one of snooker’s all-time greats.

The world No 1 was praised far and wide after landing his third Crucible title.

As well as lifting the BetfredWorld Championship trophy for a third time in four years, Selby matched the record of five ranking titles in a season and took his prize money for the campaign to over £930,000.

But he is as self-effacing as sport stars come, and the 33-year-old from Leicester will not be getting carried away with his success.

More world titles are likely to follow for Selby, who was backed by runner-up John Higgins to chase down Stephen Hendry’s record of seven.

“To get to three is more than I expected and to win it once, I’d have been happy with that. To win it three times is unbelievable,”Selby said.

“If you win it more than once then people think of you as one of the greats.

“But it’s hard for me to see myself as that. I just see myself as Mark Selby the snooker player.

“This year I’ve had a good season with five ranking events and it’s definitely the best season I’ve had. People say nobody can dominate in this era because of the standard.You could say I’ve dominated this season but over the past I haven’t.

“To try and have another season like this will be really, really hard. All I can do is just keep on working hard and keep on doing my best.”

Twelve months ago, Selby’s second world title was overshadowed f or many by t he news of Leicester City winning the Premier League on the same night.

Mark Selby