Mark Selby on Ronnie O'Sullivan, The Masters, his form and more
Mark Selby has insisted he has no personal issues with Ronnie O'Sullivan, but won't stand for any of his "antics" on the table.
The pair had a stormy 2020, with Selby accusing O'Sullivan of being "disrespectful" of him and the sport for some of the wild shots he played en route to a comeback victory in their World Championship semi-final.
And they clashed again in the Scottish Open final just before Christmas, a match Selby won, with both players accusing the other of putting them off.
Despite that, Selby exclusively told Sporting Life: "I think our relationship is fine in general. There are no issues off the table. I have as much respect for him as any other player off the table.
"But on the table Ronnie is Ronnie sometimes, and he obviously does things other people don't do. There are little antics. You have to try to blank it out and just get on with it.
"Early on in the Scottish Open final, I was on one shot and he was stood up in his chair. Just as I was about to pull the cue back to play the shot, he started chalking his cue. So I stood up and looked at him, and he pulled a face and sat down, as if to say he was sorry. He knew what he was doing. There's no way in the world he didn't know that I was down on the shot. So it's a little bit naughty.
"Then he accused me of moving a bottle of water when he was on his shot, and he wasn't even on his shot at the time. Leo (referee Scullion) came over to me and said, apparently I was moving my water when he was on his shot. I said 'whatever, Leo'. I knew I wasn't doing it. If I was doing it I'd have been the first one to apologise and say sorry, but he wasn't even down on his shot.
"People do things at certain times, don't they? Because I pulled him up (on the chalking), he probably felt like he had to pull me up on something. And then he pulled me up for nothing.
"I don't think he's happy with the way he's playing at the moment. Sometimes if you're not happy with the way you're playing and your form's not great, you're looking for things. If everything is going great and you're flying, you don't seem to notice anything.
"I wouldn't fall out with anyone, but I'll always be willing to stand my ground if I feel like I'm in the right. I'll stand my ground and argue, whether it's Ronnie, Mark Allen, Neil Robertson or anyone."
Selby is enjoying another superb season. The 37-year-old won the European Masters title in September, edging out Martin Gould in the final, before seeing off O'Sullivan to claim the Scottish Open crown last month.
His success is all the more impressive when you consider how devastating his 17-16 Crucible semi-final defeat to O'Sullivan in August was. Selby is happy to credit coach Chris Henry for that quick turnaround. The Leicester man believes he has been given a new lease of life since he started working with Henry just before the World Championship.
"Before I was with Chris, I didn't really know where I was going," Selby said. "I was a little bit fragile mentally. I was looking for things, trying to improve, but I wasn't 100 per cent sure what I was looking for. It's about getting your self-belief back. It's given me a different outlook.
"You get set in your own ways. You've been playing so long at the top level, you think everything is going to be fine if you keep practising. But I was missing shots, and missing certain shots by quite a long way and couldn't really work out why. I was presuming it was something I was doing wrong technically.
"Having done all the scientific stuff with Chris, he found out I was aiming in the right place with the cue ball, but on certain shots with the object ball I was always aiming to miss without me even knowing.
"The biggest thing for me with Chris is that it's factual stuff that he says, it's not just what he believes. If you were to go away and google what he says, it's actually factual stuff."
Selby has won the Masters three times in his stellar career, but hasn't been beyond the last eight since reaching the 2014 final.
His first match in this year's tournament is against Stephen Maguire on Tuesday night. The Scot was a brilliant winner of the Tour Championship last summer but has failed to shine so far this season.
However, Selby said: "It's a very, very tough game. Stephen should have done a lot more in the game, I think he would say that himself.
"When he's on top of his game, he's capable of beating anybody and winning any tournament he plays in. I'll need to be on my game. If I am I'll be confident."
If Selby does come through that match, and Robertson beats Yan Bingtao, the two heavyweights will clash in the last eight. Selby comfortably beat Robertson in the quarter-finals of the World Championship last summer, but has lost all three of their matches this season.
Asked if that is a concern for him, Selby said: "Not really. The times I've played Neil at the English Open and Champion of Champions, I played great. It was just down to a little bit of the run of the balls here and there, and Neil playing well.
"It's just a spin of the coin when it comes down to the last frame. You're just wanting one chance. Unfortunately for me, I didn't really get a chance in ether of the deciders. Against the top players like Neil you can still play well and get beat, because they are the best players in the game.
"At the UK he completely outplayed me. I've got no complaints, he played fantastic. Hopefully we both win our first match and we get to play each other. We've had some fantastic matches this season, and I'm sure it will be another great game."
The Masters, which is nearly half a century old, is traditionally seen as the most glamorous event in the sport. The invitational tournament has been played at the iconic Alexandra Palace since 2012, but the Marshall Arena in Milton Keynes will play host this year, due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
Selby doesn't feel there will be a problem getting himself motivated for the second of this season's triple crown events, despite the switch of venue and no fans being present.
"You're playing for the prestige of the event," Selby added. "It didn't feel like it was difficult to get up for the UK. We're going through strange times. Just to be able to play at all, we've got to be glad.
"I don't think the players will struggle to get up for it. We're getting so used to this now. I suppose when the crowds do come back, that will end up feeling strange."
Key info including how to watch
- When: January 10-17
- Where: Alexandra Palace, London
- TV info: Live on Eurosport and BBC
- Defending champion: Stuart Bingham
Full tournament draw and seedings
- All matches best of 11 frames until final, which is best of 19
Note: Judd Trump and Jack Lisowski failed Covid-19 tests on Saturday; both are out of the tournament, replaced by Joe Perry and Gary Wilson
Top half
- (1) Stuart Bingham v Thepchaiya Un-Nooh (16)
- (8) Shaun Murphy v Mark Williams (14)
- (5) Mark Selby v Stephen Maguire (9)
- (4) Neil Robertson v Yan Bingtao (12)
Bottom half
- (*) Joe Perry v David Gilbert (13)
- (6) Kyren Wilson v Gary Wilson (*)
- (7) John Higgins v Mark Allen (10)
- (2) Ronnie O'Sullivan v Ding Junhui (11)
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