Mark Selby considering retirement from professional snooker following surprise Crucible loss

Credit: Alex Pantling/Getty ImagesCredit: Alex Pantling/Getty Images
Credit: Alex Pantling/Getty Images | Alex Pantling/Getty Images
One of snooker’s all-time greats will weigh up his options for the future

Mark Selby has been left contemplating his future in professional snooker following a shock round one exit to Crucible debutant Joe O’Connor on Monday at the 2024 World Snooker Championship.

The surprise defeat represents Selby’s final result of a difficult 2023/24 season, where he has dealt with issues both on and off the baize.

Four-time world champion Selby has been open in the past about his mental health issues, and earlier this campaign he talked about his wife Vikki who had been undergoing treatment for breast cancer at the same time that a close family friend had passed away because of the disease.

In competition, Selby had a strong start to the term, making the semi-finals of both the European Masters and Shanghai Masters before reaching the final of the British Open. But apart from a last four finish at the Players Championship after a 6-0 defeat of Ronnie O’Sullivan in the quarter-finals, Selby hasn’t appeared in another ranking event semi-final since. He did however defeat fellow Leicester cueist and friend O’Connor in the grand final of the behind-closed-doors Championship League Invitational in March.

Signs that Selby was upset with his game were made apparent after his opening round loss to Gary Wilson at the recent Players Championship when he brandished his game as ‘pathetic’ and labelling it as one of the worst games he had played as a professional. He also said to ITV: I'll give the World Championships a go but if I carry on like that I won't carry on, 100%. I've always said, when it gets to the point I'm not enjoying it, it doesn't matter where I am in the rankings, I'll be hanging my cue up. I can’t enjoy performances like that.”

Immediately after his elimination to world number 30 O’Connor - a player he’d never previously lost to in competition - Selby again cast doubts over his future on the sport’s top tier during an interview with Eurosport.

Speaking post-match, the 40-year-old, 22-time ranking event winner said: “I will definitely sit down with Vikki over the summer and decide what I want to do going forward because most of this season I've not really enjoyed it at all and that's not me you know.

“I'm enjoying the practice side but then when I come to the competitive side I'm just stopping myself from playing and just not taking the shackles off and letting myself play, so every time when I get beat I feel as though I've got to beat myself and the opponent as well.

“If I decide to carry on then I'll probably need to seek for help somewhere to try and obviously overcome that hurdle, and if I don't, then obviously I'll choose to do something else.

“I've had a lot going on off the table as well which I sort of dismiss that and obviously you shouldn't, but you know, I'll have a few weeks to reflect now.

“You may see me next year, you may not.”

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