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
Mark Selby second of the season after Robertson), and also the twelfth player to win the World and UK Championship double in their career. In winning the world title, Selby also retook the world number one spot. In the first ranking event of the season, the Wuxi Classic, Selby lost 3–5 to Liang Wenbo in the last 32. He won the minor-ranking Riga Open, defeating Mark Allen 4–3 in the final, but lost 5–6 to Allen in the semi-final of the ranking Shanghai Masters. He suffered a surprise early exit in the last 128 of the ranking International Championship when 19-year-old tour