LONDON // The defending champion, Mark Selby, will begin his quest tomorrow night to retain his Wembley Masters crown and join a select band of only three back-to-back winners since the event was first held in 1976. Cliff Thorburn (1985-86), Stephen Hendry (1989-93) and the late Paul Hunter (2001-02) are the only other players who have won the Masters in successive years and Leicester's Selby is determined to join them in an event which starts today.
Last year, Selby thrashed Stephen Lee 10-3 in the final to collect his first major title and since then he has added the Welsh Open to his CV. Selby, however, remains unfazed at the pressure he will find himself under when he returns to the Wembley arena tomorrow to face the Londoner Mark King or Ricky Walden, from Liverpool, for a place in the quarter-finals. Selby said: "It will be a slightly different experience for me as I've never been to a tournament as a defending champion before."
Selby 25, who became the first player to win the Masters on his debut appearance since Hendry in 1989 added: "Last year I won three of my matches 6-5, and two of those I should have lost. There were times when I needed to dig in just to stay in the game, so I proved to myself that under the utmost pressure I can hold up. I'm looking forward to it and who knows, maybe I'll go on and win it again. "I look at the trophy back home every now and then to remind myself that I am the Masters Champion."
World champion Ronnie O'Sullivan is the favourite to win the Masters for a fourth time. * sports@thenational.ae
