Mark Selby happy to have ‘stood up’ to Neil Robertson and to reach English Open final – ‘like playing a computer game’

Robertson has had Selby’s number in recent times, winning seven straight games against the ‘Jester’. But Selby now has the bragging rights after he produced a snooker masterclass to overcome the Australian in a thrilling encounter at the Brentwood Centre on Saturday.

The signs were ominous for Selby as he trailed 3-1, but he fought back superbly, taking five of the next six frames to set up his first ranking final since 2021.

Speaking in the Eurosport studio, a delighted Selby said: “Yeah, I’m really happy. It was a great atmosphere out there.

“I think Neil has beat me the last six or seven times, but the last two or three times he’s played me, it’s literally been like faultless snooker, it’s like playing a computer game.

“I’ve nicked a scrappy first frame and I thought, if I can nick the next frame and get in front and get on top of him a bit… When I’ve lost to him in the previous matches, I’ve not really got on top, I’ve gone behind and he’s obviously one of the best players in the world and a great frontrunner.

“So yeah, I’m happy with how I played and how I stood up to him today.”

The fans at the Essex arena were treated to a high-quality game of snooker that lasted more than two hours.

As Neal Foulds pointed out, there were very few mistakes in the match and even the slightest error proved costly.

“I’ve basically played two bad shots and it’s cost me three frames,” explained Selby.

“I mean, it’s a tough school really. After the interval, I think Neil missed a couple of balls from 3-1 to 3-5 and I’ve said to him: ‘I think that’s the first ball you’ve missed against me since about 2018’ and he said: ‘don’t start, don’t start’.

“So yeah, I needed him to miss a few because when his long game is going in, he’s more or less unbeatable at times.”

To get the better of Robertson, Selby knew he needed to be at his best. He has been out of form for some time now, but he reminded everyone of his undeniable qualities to earn victory.

“In the last few matches, I’ve not really been making them [big breaks] enough,” continued Selby.

“Today, I knew that I needed to do that and if I didn’t there was no way I was going to win. From 3-1, thankfully, I managed to sort something out.”

Foulds heaped praise on both players for producing what was a festive classic, an early Christmas present for snooker fans.

“Mistakes were few and far between all the way through the match,” he said.

“It’s almost more significant the odd error than all the rest of it because you must know that with this calibre of play, you’re going to see breaks made, frames in one visit. It’s the odd mistake, and in the end, Neil made the odd mistake more.

“Today’s his day and he deserves it.”

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