Mark Selby with a shock 3–5 defeat to Andrew Pagett in the qualifying rounds of the 2013 Wuxi Classic. The tournament was the first to use a new format that required top-16 players to compete in qualifiers. In minor-ranking tournaments, Selby was runner-up in the Yixing Open, where he lost 1–4 to Joe Perry, and the Rotterdam Open, where he lost 3–4 to Mark Williams. He won the Antwerp Open, defeating Ronnie O'Sullivan 4–3 in the final. In December, in the seventh frame of his UK Championship semi-final against Ricky Walden, Selby compiled snooker's 100th officially recognised maximum break in professional competition.
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