Mark Selby one title win away from completing the Home Nations Series full house

It was the second time that Selby had claimed the Welsh Open title; professional snooker's third-longest running ranking tournament, only behind the World and UK Championships. The Leicester cueman captured his maiden ranking crown at the same competition in 2008 when he memorably came back from 8-5 down in the final to oust Ronnie O'Sullivan 9-8 at the Newport Centre.

Victory at the Venue Cymru last weekend also represented Selby's fifth Home Nations Series title triumph.

The first of those came at the 2019 English Open in Crawley when Selby denied David Gilbert 9-1 in the one-sided final to raise The Steve Davis Trophy.

A few months later in the same season, The Stephen Hendry Trophy became his too when he got the better of Jack Lisowski 9-6 at the 2019 Scottish Open in Glasgow, a title he successfully defended a year later behind closed doors in Milton Keynes (due to Covid-19) after dispatching O'Sullivan 9-3 in the final.

Winning both the English and Scottish Opens for the first time created a little bit of history, as Selby became the first player to claim two Home Nations Series events within the same season - a feat that Judd Trump (twice) and Gary Wilson have both achieved since.

The four-time World Champion's latest success means he has now collected three of the four Home Nations Series trophies - back in 2008, the Welsh Open wasn't part of the Home Nations, a concept that was introduced to the professional tour in 2016. The only piece of the jigsaw now missing for Selby is the Northern Ireland Open (The Alex Higgins Trophy), a competition he has reached the semi-finals of in the past.

Selby is in the same position as Neil Robertson - who also has 24 career ranking titles - with both requiring a Belfast win to create history by becoming the first player to complete the Home Nations Series full house.

Who has won the most Home Nations Series events?

From the 36 completed Home Nations Series events to date, Judd Trump has won the most titles on the Series with six. Four of Trump's accolades came at the Northern Ireland Open (2018, 2019, 2020, 2023) and two at the English Open (2020, 2023).

Selby moves into outright second on the all-time most decorated list with five, and Neil Robertson is now in third place with his four crowns.

Mark Allen and Gary Wilson each have three HNS titles, while Stuart Bingham (two) is the other multiple-time champion.

13 players have won exactly one Home Nations Series title, including Ronnie O'Sullivan, Mark Williams and John Higgins.

There is at least one more year of the Home Nations Series to go, as there was a 10-year contract with Eurosport to host it. It is currently unclear what will happen after next season.