Tearful Mark Selby hails English Open success as ‘biggest achievement’ following victory over Luca Brecel

ByEurosport

Updated 18/12/2022 at 23:17 GMT

He may be a four-time world champion but Mark Selby says that winning the English Open is his "biggest achievement" following a 9-6 victory over Luca Brecel. Selby has endured a tough year after revealing he had been battling depression, and the success at the Brentwood Centre is his first ranking trophy in 19 months. The 'Jester from Leicester' also paid tribute to his wife.

An emotional Mark Selby labelled his English Open success as his “biggest achievement” following a 9-6 victory over Luca Brecel at the Brentwood Centre.

The four-time world champion took home the Steve Davis trophy, his first ranking title in 19 months, after an impressive display, and the relief was written all over his face at the conclusion.

Earlier this year, Selby revealed that he had been “suffering for a few years” with depression and “bottling everything up”. He made the decision to speak out after consulting his wife Vicky about the best way to move forward.

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“I think, for me, this probably has to go down as the biggest achievement for me from where I was back in January,” he told the audience before he got his hands on the trophy.

“I've been suffering for a few years silently. Only Vicky [his wife] and probably the close family, really know.

“But yeah, it's been tough. Obviously, from January, trying to get myself back on my feet, it's not been easy.

“It’s probably been the biggest challenge in my life, so to actually come back out here playing snooker and enjoying it again, it's all I ever wanted to do. To actually come out and win a tournament is incredible, really.”

Emotional scenes as Selby claims English Open title after very tough year

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Paying tribute to his wife, Selby continued: “Vicky, I don't know, there's not enough words out there that I can say about her. You know, if it wasn't her, I definitely wouldn’t be stood here today, that’s for sure.”

Eurosport's Neal Foulds and Jimmy White were full of praise for Selby in the studio.

"It’s been a wait, hasn’t it, for Mark?" said Foulds.

"One thing you always knew is that he was going to start winning again soon. It was just a question of when.

'Over the moon' Selby left delighted after emotional English Open win

"It has been a poor year for him. He's had issues going back to January during the Masters when he put it out in the open. So, it's a great way to finish the year.

"Gradually his form has come back. Tonight, he didn't play as well as he did in the previous rounds. But even that, if you like, his ‘B’ game was good enough to lift a title."

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