Mark Selby praise for icon Mark Williams ahead of British Open snooker final – ‘One of the all-time greats’

Mark Selby has hailed “all-time great” Mark Williams ahead of their best-of-19 frame British Open final clash in Cheltenham on Sunday.

Williams will be contesting his 40th ranking final since turning professional in 1992, and is level at 2-2 with Selby in ranking finals.

The Welshman enjoyed victories in the 2011 German Masters final (9-7) and the 2013 Rotterdam Open (4-3), while Leicester icon Selby emerged triumphant in the 2011 Shanghai Masters (10-9) and the 2017 China Open (10-8).

“You have to be on top of your game to come through.”

The pair last met during Selby’s run to a fourth world title in 2021 when he completed a 13-3 drubbing with a session to spare in the Crucible quarter-finals. Selby is also 22-17 ahead on the career head-to-heads.

A win on Sunday would see him move onto 25 career ranking victories as Selby pursues a 23rd ranking trophy.

“It is another final and I don’t know how many more times I am going to get to the final of these big competitions,” said Williams.

Having won six of their previous seven meetings, it is no surprise to see Selby priced as the favourite to land the £100,000 winner’s cheque.

The match begins at 1pm (UK time) with nine frames to be played in the opening session before they play to a finish on a Sunday night with another 10 frames scheduled to decide the winner from 7pm.

Selby is due to open up against Xing Zihao at 3pm, while Williams is in action against Ian Burns at 7pm.