Mark Selby interview: 'I'd sacrifice World Championship triumph for Leicester City title glory'

For Mark Selby, it is the $64,000 question. Or perhaps in snooker terms, it is the £330,000 question.

For football fans with a life-long vocation to their local team, it does not have an easy answer. For life-long Leicester City supporter Selby, it is quite excruciating.

If he had the choice, would Selby trade in the chance to win a second World Championship and a record £330,000 winners’ cheque for his club, 5,000-1 shots Leicester and everybody's second favourite team these days, to lift a first Premier League title?

Selby is level at 8-8 with Marco Fu of Hong Kong after two riveting sessions of their best-of-33 frames World Championship semi-final, a match that is well and truly in the balance before they play to a finish on Saturday.

For his football team, it sounds a lot more simple.

Selby is aiming to reach his third world final on Sunday, a day when Leicester could be anointed Premier League champions if they overcome Manchester United at Old Trafford. With Tottenham seven points behind, Claudio Ranieri's side require only one win from their final three games to complete the task.

There is a possibility of a Leicester double celebration with Selby hoping to repeat the scenes of 2014 when he paraded the World Championship trophy at the King Power Stadium after he overcame Ronnie O’Sullivan.

“I did say that I’d forego the title to see Leicester win the title, but I said that because Leicester have more or less as good as won it,” said Selby.

“It looks likes Leicester have nearly done it, but as far I’m concerned, I’ve still got a long way to go yet.

“It would be fantastic if I can end the week as world champion and Leicester champions of England. I think that would be a dream scenario. That would be something special.

“I’m confident they’ll get over the line. I think they’ll win one of their closing three matches, and also if Chelsea beat Spurs, they would do it for us.

“Just them being in the top four is fantastic, and being in the Champions League. If they win it is a bonus really, but hopefully I can join them as winners.”

Selby is in the middle day of a three-day green baize acid test against Fu that began on Thursday, runs through Friday before drawing its final breath Saturday with the first man to 17 frames reaching the final.

It feels like more like Test match cricket or a golf tournament than snooker and is at odds with sport in the modern era where a resolution on the day is very much desired.

The straight-talking Selby remains a traditionalist and a devotee of this form of snooker where it is as vital to not over-think between sessions as much as during them.

“It has been like this for so many years now, but you know that before the tournament,” said Selby.

“You come prepared and if you know if you get far in the tournament, you are going to have to go through that.

“It is great being out in the arena here, and the more times you do it the better.

“It is a long duration, but it also gives you time to get into the match. It gives you time to perform, and if you have a bad session, it gives you time to recover.”

Selby is keen for the World Championship to remain at the Crucible Theatre after the current deal expires next year in its 40th year at the Sheffield venue.

“It is a fantastic venue in general,” said Selby.

“I think it should stay here. It is like Wembley is to football, but I understand why they want a bit more room for more spectators to watch.

“It has got so much history and prestige, it would be a shame if it did move from here.”

Selby, 32, has appeared to play in fits and starts on his sojourn to the last four, showing glimpses of his very best in wins over Robert Milkins, Sam Baird and Kyren Wilson, but also looking a little tired.

Fu fought back from trailing 5-3 overnight to level matters at 8-8 against a player who decided to opt out of the China Open and the Players Championship to prepare for this 17-day mental examination to find the game’s world champion.

“I came here a bit fatigued last year,” said Selby. “It is a long old season, and I thought it might be better to miss a few tournaments and come here fresh.

“At the moment, it seems to be working. I think the tournament can make you a bit jaded in general.

“You have to concentrate hard for long periods of a match, for long durations. That is why I took the time out. If I had been playing in tournaments before arriving here, it would have drained me even more.”

Selby does not feel he is playing at the same level as when he recovered from 10-5 behind to complete a remarkable 18-14 win over Ronnie O’Sullivan two years ago, but is of a mind the World Championship is very much an event to time one's run.

“I’m possibly not playing as well I did when I won it in 2014, but I feel like I’m getting better the longer the tournament goes on,” admits Selby.

“You are not going to play fantastic snooker in every session.

“I can reflect on winning the final here to give myself confidence, and it is nice to remind yourself that you can do it.

“Every player goes through slumps. I’ve got great memories from 2014 with all my family and friends here.

“But this year is totally different. When I’ve not played great in this tournament, I’ve dug in. You have to show character.

“You dig in and when I’m among the balls I’ve proved that I can score as well as anybody here.”

Selby lives in a pad in the countryside with a swimming pool with wife Vikki and baby daughter Sofia Maria – “I swim depths rather than lengths,” he has joked – but has yet to take the plunge in learning to swim.

“Learning to swim is still on the agenda now that I have that the little one, but I’ve not got round it yet," says the man nicknamed the "Jester from Leicester".

Selby is suddenly in at the deep end in this year’s World Championship. It is sink or swim. And the $64,000 question is this: will he finish like his beloved Leicester or Spurs?