Wednesday, 16 January 2013

Another day at the office for comeback king Selby

Mark Selby is renowned for his great comebacks. Tonight he staged one of his very finest.

Picture by Monique Limbos
The world number one has had to watch his rivals take centre stage all week, desperate to throw himself into the Alexandra Palace cauldron.

And then even when he did get the chance to get on the baize, he left it late to show why he's one of the title contenders.

At 5-1 down, you can be forgiven for thinking he was dead and buried. But those who know Selby, never say never.

He was brave. He showed desire and he potted some unbelievable balls under pressure to win five frames on the spin and edge out his opponent on a decider.

Bingham played a classy game to build a commanding lead but, ultimately, was miles behind Selby when it came to delivering under pressure.

Playing under the bright lights at the Masters can be unforgiving. For Selby, these are situations he relishes most. It was all or nothing by frame seven. He stepped up to the mark and showed exactly what a world number one is made of.

It's been a week of comebacks already but Selby's eclipses the lot. This is his trademark calling card. So much so, you can spot it a mile off. Most people were calling this once he'd got just one of the five frames he required this evening.

They say confidence is a great tonic. He'll feel unbeatable after winning a match like this. His march to the UK Championship title was fuelled by an equally rousing comeback against Neil Robertson.

I've blogged about four of the main trophy contenders already this week. Selby has as good a chance as anyone of claiming this year's Masters title.

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