Trump will need to win a few more to join game’s greats
Mark Selby reckons rival Judd Trump needs to win multiple World Championships to be considered one of snooker’s all-time greats.
World champion Selby and winning machine Trump are currently tussling it out for the sport’s coveted world No. 1 spot.
Trump has staggeringly won half of his 22 ranking titles in the past two seasons – but only has one Crucible crown to his name.
But Leicester potter Selby feels only Ronnie O’Sullivan, Stephen Hendry and John Higgins are among the green-baize game’s very elite.
“There are a lot of greats in the game and Judd is definitely one of those to me,” admitted Selby, ahead of his Champion of Champions title bid in Bolton.
“He’s won 22 rankings events, he’s won the worlds and everything else to win in the game.
“But when you talk about all-time greats it’s winning those big titles over again like the Roger Federers and Novak Djokovic’s do in the tennis and like Ronnie and Hendry have in snooker.
“If he doesn’t win another tournament he’ll go down as a great. But in terms of an all-time great there aren’t many people you’d put in that category in any sport.
“At the moment it’s only John Higgins, Hendry and Ronnie as all-time greats for me.”
Four-time world champion Selby is once again among the favourites to land the coveted Champion of Champions invitational event this week.
But the world No. 1 has surprisingly failed to fire at the elite 16-man event since it was reintroduced to the calendar in 2013.
“It’s a really tough event to win because it’s the best players in the world on current form,” added Selby, a two-time semi-finalist.
“For me it’s like a second Masters, but all the players are in on current form.
“It’s one of my goals to win it, I’d love to win it.
“It’s one of the tournaments which is still on my bucket list to win.”
Selby gets his bid for the £150,000 top prize under way against former farmer David Gilbert on Wednesday afternoon.
Wishaw Wizard John Higgins, who qualified after he crushed everyone in a vintage run to win last season’s Players Championship, and Stephen Maguire are the Scots in action.
Higgins, the 2016 champion, is vying to bounce back from successive ranking final defeats and faces Chinese superstar Ding Junhui on Thursday.
And the 46-year-old could face arch-rival Ronnie O’Sullivan in a mouthwatering quarter-final.
Meanwhile, Maguire starts his own title quest against Ryan Day on the opening day with a potential last-eight showdown with Trump in the evening.