Mark Selby It was noted by eventual world champion John Higgins, amongst others, in his victory speech, that Selby was the most improved player on the tour. These performances in the 2006/07 season earned Selby a place in the top 16 for the very first time for the 2007/08 season, where he was ranked 11th. Selby's wins over Lee, Ebdon, Carter and Murphy at the 2007 World Championships also won him the inaugural 888.com Silver Chip award for outstanding performance, awarded by the Snooker Writers' Association at the post-championship ball. After a moderate start to the season, Selby had a strong run
2017 World Snooker Championship Ali Carter 10–7 in a tense encounter to reach the last 16. 2010 champion Neil Robertson made his 500th career century during his 10–4 first round win over Noppon Saengkham of Thailand. Stuart Carrington became only the fifth player, after John Higgins, Ronnie O'Sullivan, Mark Selby and Neil Robertson to make century breaks in 3 consecutive frames in a World Championship match during his encounter with Liang Wenbo; however, Liang won the match 10–7. In total, 7 former world champions qualified for the last 16: Selby, Bingham, O'Sullivan, Higgins, Robertson, Dott and Murphy. Ebdon was the only former champion in