Mark Selby made sure to pay Ronnie O’Sullivan the ultimate respect despite easing to a stunning 6-0 win at the Players Championship on Thursday.
Selby put an end to the Rocket’s 16-match winning run in Telford but showed his class in his post-game TV interview.
O’Sullivan hadn’t lost a match for 103 days since he was beaten by Zhang Anda in the semi-final of the International Championship in China last November.
He had won the last three tournaments he had entered, including the first two Triple Crown Events of the season.
Mark Selby showed his class with his comments on Ronnie O’Sullivan
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Selby has had a difficult season himself but showed signs that he was hitting form in his round one win over Barry Hawkins on Wednesday.
But no one would have expected such an emphatic scoreline in his 29th career meeting against O’Sullivan.
Selby raced into a 4-0 lead at the interval and returned to the table to win the next two frames and condemn his opponent to a rare whitewash.
In the final frame, the 40-year-old appeared to play for a snooker on the last red.
During his interview on ITV 4, pundit Stephen Hendry said to Selby: “You had an interesting choice with the last red because you could have played for it but you decided to play for the snooker on the last red.”
However, Selby said it was a mistake, replying: “I didn’t mean to play for the snooker but I just overscrewed the red in the middle too much.
“I wanted to play higher on the black and then play it down because I felt confident.”
Selby then showed his respect for O’Sullivan’s quality by claiming that he would never have played the snooker on purpose.
He claimed it would have shown a sign of weakness to the player he claims is the best of all time.
Selby added: “Ronnie, you don’t have to say anything about Ronnie, he’s the greatest of all time.
“But if I’d have landed perfectly on the black to play on the red and then refused it and played the snooker, even just little signs like that, I know I’m 5-0 up, but Ronnie might think ‘He doesn’t fancy it’.
“If you aren’t going to go for it at 5-0 up then when are you going to go for it?”
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Mark Selby showed Ronnie O’Sullivan respect despite beating him 6-0 at the Players Championship
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Selby has previously beaten O’Sullivan in the final of all three Triple Crown events but says Thursday’s victory is up there with his greatest against him.
He said: “Yeah for sure. Like you say, to beat Ronnie in any tournament by any scoreline is a great victory but to beat him in the way I did, the way I scored, my safety was good, long game was good, very, very pleased.
“At the back end of the game against Hawkins, I felt as if I’d got a bit of confidence, I was striking the shots a lot better, seeing the shots a lot better, being a lot more positive and I just managed to carry that on into today’s game.”
Selby hopes that the victory can spark him into continuing that form for the remainder of the season.
He added: “Well I hope [it’s the spark I need]. The biggest thing for me is that when I’m not winning, everyone knows I’m a tinkerer and I try and tweak things and stuff.
Mark Selby put on a show as he beat Ronnie O’Sullivan 6-0
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“The two performances I put in there, after the interval against Barry and then there against Ronnie, has proved to me that what I’m doing now is what I need to carry on losing, whether I win or lose.
“So that’s the biggest thing for me, to just put that to bed so I can just go out there and play.
“The game’s hard enough without thinking about how to play, which is what I’ve been thinking for weeks.
“The biggest thing for me is if I feel good in what I’m doing technically, then mentally I’m always quite strong. If I’m not then I’m the other way.”
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