Mark Selby believes again after mental health turnaround since last year’s Crucible nightmare

Mark Selby arrives at the Crucible this year in completely contrasting mood to how he landed in Sheffield 12 months ago, believing again that he can conquer the world.

The four-time world champion was beaten in the opening round at the Crucible last year amid a torrid time for his game and mental health.

Selby was talking about retirement before he got to Sheffield and an early defeat to debutant Joe O’Connor did nothing to persuade him otherwise.

However, talks with his doctor and his wife encouraged him to keep playing and a year on he has added two more ranking titles to his collection and is back at the World Championship as one of the favourites to lift the trophy.

He wishes he had not turned up to play last year and focussed on feeling better about himself and his game, but now he is relishing the challenge again and can’t wait to get out onto the arena floor.

‘Night and day, completely night and day,’ Selby said of how differently he feels to this time last year. ‘Even coming here on this media day [last year] I was still questioning myself, thinking should I be here? Should I do it?

‘I thought once I’d done all the interviews on media day I can’t really pull out because it’s all built up. I made my decision to play but looking back I shouldn’t have done. You live and learn.’

Selby voiced his concerns about his future last year after an opening round defeat to Gary Wilson at the Tour Championship in April.

‘I was pathetic from start to finish,’ he said on ITV after the loss. ‘Probably one of the worst games I’ve played as a professional. If I carry on playing like that I won’t be enjoying it and choosing a different career, for sure.

‘I’ll give the World Championships a go but if I carry on like that I won’t carry on. 100 per cent.

‘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.’

After losing 10-6 to O’Connor in Sheffield, he said: ”I’ll sit down with [wife] Vikki over the summer, have a few weeks off and try to switch off from snooker and then I’ll see what the best option is. The majority of this season I’ve not really enjoyed at all.

‘For me, my happiness is the most important thing. Everything I’ve achieved and I still can’t go out there, let myself play and enjoy it. There’s obviously a mental block somewhere.

‘If I do decide to carry on I’ll probably work with somebody and see where that goes. If not I’ll probably still be involved in snooker at some degree, but not playing.’

Selby decided to keep playing, with the idea to only compete when he was feeling well enough and genuinely wanting to, happy to skip events if needs be.

However, he has felt in such an improved place this campaign that he has played in pretty much everything he can and has got back to winning ways by lifting the trophies at the British Open and Welsh Open.

Explaining the turnaround, Selby said on the eve of this year’s event: ‘After the World Championship I had a big think about it and spoke to the doctor I was dealing with a few years ago.

‘He said: “The game’s in your blood, it’s all you’ve ever known, if you do walk away it’s your decision but I think you’re going to miss it because you don’t know any different.”

‘I agreed with him to an extent but I need to look after myself, he said to take some time off in the summer and if I did decide to carry on playing then pick and choose, do what your body tells you and if you feel like playing then play.

‘This year I’ve been in a better place having spoken to him and the longer it has gone on I’ve learned to understand it a lot more and learned to deal with it a bit better, I don’t think you ever overcome it but you learn to manage it.’

For a player who usually has rock solid belief and a relentless appetite for battle, the way he felt last year could not have felt more alien.

‘With me, whether it’s the World Championship, Home Nations, Championship League, you go to tournaments believing you can win,’ he said. ‘Coming here last year to be honest there was no way in the world I believed I could win.

‘The way I was mentally…to win this tournament you have to be very strong mentally. It’s very tough, there’s a lot of highs and lows, it’s an emotional roller coaster.

‘The only reason I played was I thought I had good memories here, if I win a few games, the atmosphere of the place, something might trigger and I might snap out of it and enjoy it.

‘It’s a good place to be going there [this year], knowing in my mind believing I’ve got a chance. This year I’ll go there believing I can win if I play well.’

Selby takes on friend and fellow Leicester man Ben Woollaston in the opening round, starting on Wednesday evening, and he feels ready to be as hard to beat as ever.

‘I’m enjoying the challenge again which is pleasing for me because if I enjoy the challenge I’ll be out there all night, as you’ve seen over the years,’ he said. ‘You have to scrape me off the table.

‘But other times if I’m not in a great place, the last place I want to be is out there.

‘Every time I go to Sheffield either for the Worlds or just to visit I get a buzz because it’s got great memories. But last year I didn’t get that at all for the first time in all the years I’ve been going there, that’s when I knew I shouldn’t be there.

‘But I can only look forward, this year I’m in a better frame of mind and looking forward to it.’