Mark Selby arrives in York this weekend for the UK Snooker Championship as the world number one. But, as he tells STEVE CARROLL, being at the summit of the sport is merely a number to him

MARK SELBY’S victory at the Shanghai Masters was notable for two things. It gave the 28-year-old his second ranking title and it propelled him above Mark Williams to the top of the rankings – making him the first player to get there without previously winning the World Championship.

Selby, by his own admission, was happy to get a monkey off his back in China.

He is one of the game’s most consistent players but has hit the crossbar repeatedly in the major events, losing in the final of the German Masters and the China Open in 2011 before edging Williams 10-9 in a thriller in September.

“Obviously, it was nice to get back to winning (ranking events) again,” he said of his Shanghai success. “I had been getting to latter stages and had been to ranking finals – the players I faced seemed to be that little bit better.

“I seemed to think I had been underachieving. Hopefully, I can now go on and win a lot more. It would be great to get to another final and win it a bit more convincingly. I talk about putting myself under pressure, my family go through it as well. But as long as I win, I don’t really care how I get there.”

Selby burst onto the scene when, at just 19, he got to the final of the Scottish Open in 2003 and he reached the World Championship final at the Crucible four years later, going down 18-13 to John Higgins in a gruelling encounter.

The UK hasn’t been the scene of his greatest triumphs – a 9-8 semi-final loss to Ronnie O’Sullivan in 2007 and a quarter-final defeat against the same player two years later proving to be his best displays.

But he comes into the event in superb form, and the tag of being world number one doesn’t bother him at all.

“Obviously I started off the season as good as I could,” Selby added. “Since Shanghai we haven’t had any ranking tournaments as such – only the short-form Players’ Tour Championship events which obviously carry ranking points and have great players.

“It will be nice to get back to playing at a big TV event. Being number one, it is just a figure. It’s about the pressure you put on yourself, and all the other players know I am going into the event as number one.

“I don’t put too much pressure on myself. It is just the same as going to any other tournament.”

And while defending champion Higgins has railed against the PTC events, urging World Snooker boss Barry Hearn to ditch low-pay tournaments which were held in front of “no man and his dog”, Selby sees them as a chance to stay at the top of his game.

“I think they are good,” he explained. “Before we had only five or six tournaments. At the moment, we are playing week in and week out – there’s not too much time for practice. You were having to travel to a tournament, try to keep match sharp, and now it is more the other way round.”

Where Higgins and Selby do agree, to an extent, is on the change to the UK format, which sees the traditional best-of-17 encounters shortened to best-of-11, until the semi-finals, so all the matches can be shown on TV.

He said: “I go into every tournament thinking I can go and win it. There’s no point in turning up otherwise. I know the format has been shortened and it’s the first to six frames. That’s still a reasonable target.

“It is nice to be back at York. It’s been a few years and it is such a great city. I always enjoyed it when I was there. I was a little bit disappointed when it was taken away.

“I can remember that it was a great venue and I remember the crowds being very good. Now, with them only having the two tables and with every match being on TV, it will be great for the crowds – being able to watch two tables rather than the four.

“I say the format is short. It’s only short because it was the best of 17. It is still more than long enough. It would have been nice to keep it as the best of 17. The UK is our second-biggest tournament and it was always a longer format, so it was a shame to cut it down but it is still good to have the tournament.”

Ryan Day awaits Selby in the first round and he is very aware he needs to get quickly out of the blocks if he is to get through the first weekend at the Barbican.

“With the first to six, you can’t have a slow start,” he said. “You have to hit the ground running. I am playing Ryan Day in the first round and he is a top player. He has struggled a bit recently but he seems to be getting his game back and it will be a tough match. I am looking forward to it.”

order of play

Round 1 (best of 11 frames)

1 John Higgins v Rory McLeod Saturday, December 3, 11am

2 Stephen Maguire v Stephen Hendry Saturday, December 3, 7pm

3 Ronnie O’Sullivan v Steve Davis Sunday, December 4, 2pm

4 Judd Trump v Dominic Dale Monday, December 5, 12.30pm

5 Ding Junhui v Mark Davis Saturday, December 3, 11am

6 Matthew Stevens v Marcus Campbell Saturday, December 3, 7pm

7 Graeme Dott v Matthew Selt Saturday, December 3, 2pm

8 Neil Robertson v Tom Ford Saturday, December 3, 2pm

9 Mark Williams v Joe Jogia Monday, December 5, 7pm

10 Stephen Lee v Ricky Walden Monday, December 5, 7pm

11 Martin Gould v Peter Lines Sunday, December 4, 7pm

12 Shaun Murphy v Li Yan Sunday, December 4, 7pm

13 Ali Carter v Robert Milkins Sunday, December 4, 2pm

14 Mark Allen v Adrian Gunnell Monday, December 5, 12.30pm

15 Stuart Bingham v Marco Fu Sunday, December 4, 11am

16 Mark Selby v Ryan Day Sunday, December 4, 11am

Round 2 (best of 11 frames)

17 Winner of 1 v Winner of 2 Tuesday, December 6, 7pm

18 Winner of 3 v Winner of 4 Tuesday, December 6, 12.30pm

19 Winner of 5 v Winner of 6 Tuesday, December 6, 12.30pm

20 Winner of 7 v Winner of 8 Tuesday, December 6, 7pm

21 Winner of 9 v Winner of 10 Wednesday, December 7, 12.30pm

22 Winner of 11 v Winner of 12 Wednesday, December 7, 12.30pm

23 Winner of 13 v Winner of 14 Wednesday, December 7, 7pm

24 Winner of 15 v Winner of 16 Wednesday, December 7, 7pm

Quarter-finals (best of 11 frames)

QF1 Winner of 17 v Winner of 18 Thursday, December 8, 12.30pm

QF2 Winner of 19 v Winner of 20 Thursday, December 8, 12.30pm

QF3 Winner of 21 v Winner of 22 Thursday, December 8, 7pm

QF4 Winner of 23 v Winner of 24 Thursday, December 8, 7pm

Semi-finals (best of 17 frames)

SF1 Winner of QF1 v Winner of QF2 Friday, December 9, 12.30pm and 7pm

SF2 Winner of QF3 v Winner of QF4 Saturday, December 10, 1pm and 7pm

Final (best of 19 frames)

Winner of SF1 v Winner of SF2 Sunday, December 11, 2pm and 8pm

• To book tickets, phone 0844 854 2757