The four-time world champion will hardly be full of regret if his brilliant career comes to an end without an ITV tournament win on his record, but it is odd that he hasn’t been able to capture any of those trophies.
They are big events on ITV, with the World Grand Prix, Players Championship and Tour Championship making up the high profile series determined by the one-year list, while the Champion of Champions and British Open are also highlights of the calendar.
Selby says it is simply the level of events that doesn’t make his ITV record too surprising, with these tournaments incredibly difficult to win even for a player of his quality.
Although even more surprising that the Jester from Leicester hasn’t won on the channel, he has reached just one final, at this season’s British Open.
‘It’s tough, obviously at some point I’d like to think I’d win one, but you just have to look at the tournaments that are on ITV,’ Selby told Metro.co.uk.
‘The British Open, it’s been a short format so it’s tough to win. All the other events, Champion of Champions, that speaks for itself, full of people who’ve won events.
‘Then it’s the top 32 [World Grand Prix], top 16 [Players Championship], now top 12 for the Tour Championship on the one-year list so to win them it’s not easy.’
Selby is taking on Gary Wilson in the first round of the Tour Championship this week, finding himself 5-3 down after Monday’s first session, with the match coming to an end on Tuesday afternoon.
He is coming to the event feeling good about his game after some impressive recent showings, including a 6-0 win over Ronnie O’Sullivan at the Players Championship and winning the Invitational Championship League.
‘I feel like the last few comps I’ve been playing a bit better,’ he said. ‘Played well against Ronnie, any win against Ronnie is good but it wasn’t like I fell over the line, I played really good.
‘In the league I played good, won that. Out in China [World Open] I played good, Jackson [Page] just played unbelievable against me, I can’t remember him missing a pot, I think I only missed two balls in the whole match. If anyone plays like that against you, you can accept losing, you just have to hold your hands up.
‘The Tour Championship is a big comp, hopefully I can put in a good performance there.’
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