Selby must see off 127 rivals to retain English Open title
VICTORY IN LAST YEAR’S TOURNAMENT ENDED RUN OF POOR FORM FOR CITY STAR
LEICESTER snooker star Mark Selby is preparing to defend his English Open title as the world-ranking event gets under way at the Marshall Arena, in Milton Keynes, on Monday.
Selby defeated David Gilbert 9–1 in the 2019 final to lift the Steve Davis Trophy.
He will once again pit his skills against a strong line-up that includes world champion Ronnie O’Sullivan, world number one Judd Trump, Neil Robertson, John Higgins, Ding Junhui and Shaun Murphy. In all, there will be 128 players taking part.
The event is title sponsored by global sports streaming platform Matchroom.Live, which was launched in May.
It is the first tournament in this season’s Home Nations series. The series is a happy hunting ground for Selby, who also won the Scottish Open last season.
The three-time world champion produced a vintage display to claim the English Open title, demolishing practice partner Gilbert 9-1 at Crawley’s K2 Centre to end a 13-month run of poor form and pocket the £70,000 first prize, along with the Steve Davis Trophy.
He said after clinching the title: “It has been tough but close family and friends reassured me it has worked before and will work again and to keep believing. This is up there with some of the best I have played.”
Barry Hearn, chairman of World Snooker Tour, said: “We are delighted to join forces with Matchroom.Live for the English Open. It is a phenomenal field packed with the world’s best and it’s going to be a fantastic week.
“Matchroom.Live is all about reaching out to fans in every corner of the globe who love watching live sport but haven’t had the opportunity to do so because of a lack of television coverage in their own territory.
“Now they have the choice to subscribe and watch the biggest events live. The range of content on Matchroom.Live is fabulous.
“We know we have many millions of snooker fans in the Indian sub-continent, Africa, the Americas and other areas where they have been starved of broadcast in the past.
“We are now giving them what they want and developing the popularity of our great sport worldwide.”
The Matchroom.Live English Open runs from October 12 to 18.
It will be televised and broadcast on Eurosport.