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
ITV
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.
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