Mark Selby of both the Masters and Welsh Open to Ronnie O'Sullivan, but won the Gdynia Open with a 4–1 victory over Martin Gould. Before the World Championship Selby withdrew from the PTC Finals and China Open due to personal reasons. He beat Robert Milkins 10–6, Sam Baird 13–11 and Kyren Wilson 13–8 to face Marco Fu in the semi-finals. Selby drew level at 12–12 thanks to winning a 76-minute frame, the longest in Crucible history and went on to win 17–15 with an excellent snooker on the brown in the final frame. He took a 6–0 lead over Ding Junhui in
2016 World Snooker Championship 16 in the rankings for the first time. Mark Selby led another qualifier Sam Baird 11–7 before Baird won four consecutive frames to level at 11–11. Selby then won the next two frames to clinch a place in the quarterfinals, 13–11. In addition to 45-year-old McManus, several other veteran players reached the quarterfinals for the first time in years. Four-time champion John Higgins beat Ricky Walden 13–8 to reach his first quarterfinal since 2011. Two-time champion Mark Williams defeated Michael Holt, also 13–8, to get past the second round for only the second time since 2006. Marco Fu defeated Anthony