Mark Selby UK Championship Win: 10th Triple Crown Title

In the final, led by Belgian referee Olivier Marteel, Mark Selby started scorching. The master of tactical jousting ran to 0-5 with, among other things, a 105-century.

Defending champion Judd Trump did not give up easily and clawed back to 7-8 in the evening session. Still, Selby had the first chance to finish, but missed a red ball. Instead of 7-10, it became 8-9.

With a 69 break, Selby was able to take the overall victory in a high-quality final. Only two frames were not decided with a high break.

It is the 25th ranking title for Selby and the tenth title in a Triple Crown, the three most prestigious snooker tournaments (World Championship, UK Championship and Masters). Only Ronnie O’Sullivan (23), Stephen Hendry (18) and Steve Davis (15) have more tournaments of the Triple Crown on their list of honors.

Selby previously won the UK Championship in 2012 and 2016. It was his first Triple Crown final since losing the World Cup final against Luca Brecel.

“Those Triple Crowns are not easy to win; it was 9 years ago that I won here. It’s fantastic that I can do it again,” said Selby. “Every year my goal is to win one of those three monuments to our sport.”

“Winning other ranking tournaments is nice, but ultimately it is at the Triple Crowns that you will be judged, just like tennis players at the Grand Slams.”

The victory earned Selby 250,000 pounds (286,900 euros), Trump became 100,000 pounds (114,000 euros) richer. Trump is therefore even more firmly the number 1 in the world, ahead of Kyren Wilson and Robertson. Selby climbed from 11th to 6th place.

Luca Brecel, who could not qualify for the main table, is 43rd on the Order of Merit. Ben Mertens remained status quo at 67, Leclercq rose from 81 to 79.