2024 English Open: Mark Selby Lashes Out at Brentwood Centre Conditions

Snooker great Mark Selby didn’t shy away from slating the conditions of the Brentwood Centre, the venue hosting the ongoing BetVictor English Open, following his nail-biting 4-3 last-16 fixture against Chinese wonderkid Si Jiahui. 

He also re-centred the potential retirement talks which he first mentioned at last year’s Tour Championship in Manchester, suggesting his motivation to play the sport could end at any time. 

The four-time world champion was also disappointed with his performance, but Jiahui equally didn’t turn up on the day. 

The Jester from Leicester highlighted the second frame which was decided on the black ball, as the moment where his opponent lost the match.

“It wasn’t a great game from neither of us. The second frame was the big one for me, if he rolls beyond the black and snookers me, it could be a totally different match. That's where I feel like he lost a game,” Selby told SportsBoom.com in an exclusive interview. 

“It’s irrelevant whether it was me or Si [Jiahui] that got through today from that performance just there. We’d both have needed to play better tomorrow to get through.”

The Leicester-born cueist flirted with the idea of retirement towards the end of last season, after a discouraging few tournaments, however he has started to regain some momentum this campaign which will hopefully fire up his career once again. 

When asked how he is feeling on and off the table this year, he replied: “Yeah, it is okay at the moment, but I'm just going to take it one tournament at a time. I could wake up next week and feel on the floor, so if that’s the case I won’t play.”

“But as it stands, I’m practicing a little bit and enjoying it. I’m enjoying the challenge, which is good for me because I haven’t for a while.”

Image credit: World Snooker Tour (WST)

Selby also went on a short rant how the playing conditions in the Brentwood Centre were below standard, making it hard for him to get going on the table. 

He also illustrated how his fellow colleagues Shaun Murphy and Neil Robertson expressed the same opinion. 

“I felt like the table was tough. I watched a bit of Neil [Robertson] and [Shaun] Murphy last night and obviously on paper you look at that draw, and you think that was going to be a top-quality match and it wasn't as good as what everyone expected it to be.”

“Neil was saying the table was playing tough. Shaun said the table was playing tough and I played on it yesterday afternoon, all morning and I felt like it was okay and then I played on it today and it's a totally different table. It is tough to get anything going out there, obviously when the conditions are like that.”