Mark Selby successful, some pundits and fans began to view this nickname with irony. Former world champion and now BBC commentator Dennis Taylor has given him the nickname “Sat Nav Selby” due to his knowledge of angles and ability to lay and escape from snookers. Selby is also a pool player. He was the 2006 WEPF eight-ball pool world champion and was the 2015 Chinese Pool World Championship runner-up. Selby was born in Leicester, England. Malcolm Thorne, the brother of Leicester-born snooker player Willie Thorne, spotted Selby's snooker ability and provided Selby practice so he could practise every day after school. Selby's
Mark Selby 3–5 first round defeat to Jamie Burnett in the Australian Goldfields Open. Selby lost his world number one spot to Judd Trump after the latter's victory in the inaugural International Championship in China. However, just five weeks later, Selby won his third ranking title and largest of his career, the UK Championship, to regain the top spot. He defeated Michael White 6–3, Ryan Day 6–4 from 3–0 down, and Neil Robertson 6–4 from 4–0 down to reach the semi-finals, where he beat Mark Davis 9–4 to progress to the final. Already assured of overtaking Trump regardless of the result, Selby