Mark Selby is not sure if he has played his last game as a professional snooker player, saying that if he cannot find a way to overcome a ‘mental block’ in his game then he will walk away.
The four-time world champion was beaten 10-6 in the opening round of the World Snooker Championship on Monday by his friend and practice partner Joe O’Connor.
It was a great performance from the debutant but a poor one from Selby, which he described as ‘pathetic’ especially in the first session.
‘I thought I was pathetic from start to finish,’ he said. ‘I played a little bit better this afternoon [Monday] but 7-2 down you’re always going to play a little bit better because you let your arm go a little bit. From 2-2 to 7-2 I was really poor and made it too easy for Joe.’
At the Tour Championship earlier this month Selby had a similar assessment of his performance in a first round defeat to Gary Wilson and suggested that if he didn’t improve at the Crucible then he would retire from the sport.
The 40-year-old says he is still considering an early retirement because he feels there is a mental block stopping him performing in tournaments.
While he feels as good as ever in practice, uncertainty is crippling his game at the match table and he is struggling to overcome it. So much so that it is damaging his mental health, an ongoing struggle for Selby which he has spoken out about in the past.
‘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,’ Selby said of his future. ‘The majority of this season I’ve not really enjoyed at all.
‘I’ve stopped myself from playing. A couple of matches here and there I’ve let myself play. Like the O’Sullivan game [6-0 at the Players Championship], I played like I was in practice.
‘Overall I’ve stopped myself playing and I do my own head in. From where I was before [with mental health], the last thing I want to do is get to that position and snooker’s obviously going to be putting me in that position, that’s not where I want to be, so I need to sit down with Vikki and have a think.
‘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.
‘I still enjoy practice because I go out there and play and I’m playing well in practice. That’s the frustrating thing. Then I go out there and something just switches and I don’t let myself go and play. Maybe I’m trying too hard, but you’re only going to play your best snooker if you relax and I’m stopping myself from doing that. I need to try and overcome that hurdle.
‘In practice I just see the shot and play it. In matches I’m walking round looking at five or six different shots when I know the shot I’m playing but I can’t physically let myself do it. Before the match I’m telling myself to go out there and play like I do in practice.
‘I played [Barry] Hawkins before we came up here and played unbelievable, the Thursday before media day. So I thought I was coming with a bit of confidence, then I went and stopped myself playing. It’s frustrating. It’s getting me down as well, which is obviously not where I want to be.’
It was put to Selby that a reduced schedule of tournaments over the season could be the answer for him and he said that is what his wife has suggested going forward.
‘Vikki seems to think I should do that, listen to myself rather than go out there and play in everything,’ he said. ‘If I was to play that’s something I would look at, spending more time off the table with the family and just have a clear head.
‘Away from snooker I’m happy, then every time I come to snooker I’m the opposite. I don’t want to be in that position where I was at the Masters when I spoke out.
‘I’ve always said, once I stop enjoying it, that’s the time for me to step back and do I need to not play as many tournaments or do something else. Because if you’re not enjoying it you’re not going to play your best snooker. I don’t want to just go through the motions and feel as though it’s a chore every time I go to a tournament.
‘If I was playing crap in practice I’d be even more worried, but I’m playing as good as I can play in practice. I don’t know, we’ll see, I’ll have a bit of time to think about it and go from there.’
Despite the disappointment, Selby will be cheering on O’Connor to continue what has started as a dream Crucible debut.
On their post-match embrace, Selby revealed: ‘I just said to him, “well played and good luck for the rest of the tournament. I’m chuffed to bits for you and there’s nobody more proud than me to see you doing well. Go on and enjoy it.”‘
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