Mark Selby’s day included twists and turns, the end result of which was that the snooker star miraculously ended up in Tampere on time.
– I don’t remember a day like this.
Four-time snooker world champion Mark Selby takes a breath while sitting in the restaurant of a hotel in Tampere. Selby’s outburst is understandable when considering the events of the last 24 hours.
– My manager Django called me yesterday around 4pm UK time but I missed the call. A couple of hours later I saw a text message saying to call ASAP (Finnish as soon as possible), Selby says.
The manager’s contact was related to the exhibition match starting at 18:00 on Thursday evening in Tampere. That of the reigning world champion By Luca Brecel had to face the Australian snooker star Neil Robertsonbut the Belgian withdrew from the event after contracting a fever.
Selby entered the picture because Brecel and Selby belong to the same Manager’s stable. But because the boss’s call did not reach the Leicester player, Selby did not make it to the Wednesday night flight from London to Helsinki.
The journey to Tampere began on Thursday morning at 3:00 a.m. English time with a two-hour car journey from Leicester to London’s Heathrow airport. In the normally congested outer ring of the capital, traffic is usually still calm from morning to night, but unexpected road arrangements caused problems for Selby.
– Part of the highway was closed, so we had to take a detour.
Selby finally made it to the flight that left at 7:30 a.m., which arrived at Helsinki-Vantaa at 12:38 p.m. Finnish time. Selby’s car pulled into the yard of the hotel in Tampere-talo at 3:30 p.m.
Good luck on your journey
The meeting between Selby and Robertson in Tampere is, as a single exhibition match, quite exceptional in its international size category.
– I have not been involved in an exhibition match that is organized individually in front of such a large audience, says Selby, who debuted as a professional in 1999.
The Hong Kong Masters invitational tournament is normally played in a multipurpose arena that attracts almost 10,000 spectators. Instead, Alexandra Palace, which hosts The Masters invitational tournament, only reaches an arena of 2,000 spectators at the home of the sport in Britain in January.
1,856 tickets were sold for the match in Tampere in a few days. The number of spectators exceeds the 1,900 mark when invited guests are included.
– The scenario of this exhibition match is such that it doesn’t get any bigger than this. And the bet is accordingly, the only professional player in the history of Finnish snooker who developed his spouse in the event Robin Hull says.
Hull are not flattering Brecel about how the Belgian star handled his last-minute cancellation.
– It was made clear to the players that this is not a normal exhibition match played at the club, but something completely different. The contributions were known, but it apparently did not go into distribution. This was literally down to luck, that we don’t have a note on the door at the moment, Hull admits.
In a better place
Timeline also matters in Selby’s case. The 40-year-old English champion is known for his openness and has made no secret of the fact that he has suffered from mental health problems in recent years – despite being crowned world champion for the fourth time in 2021.
– If this request had come 18 months ago, I wouldn’t necessarily have responded affirmatively, Selby admits.
Since then, Selby’s mental state has improved, which has also been seen at the game table. In the last World Championships, he advanced to the final, where Brecel beat him 18–15. However, in the same struggle, Selby became the first player in the history of the World Cup finals to make a maximum break of 147 points.
– I’m in a better place mentally now than I have been in years, says Selby, who recently played in the quarterfinals of the UK Championship tournament.