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 rookie Oliver Lines came from 0–4 behind to defeat him 6–4. In the invitational Champion of Champions tournament, he reached the quarter-finals, but lost 1–6 against Judd Trump. He suffered another early exit at the UK Championship when he lost 4–6 to David Morris in the last 64. Playing Shaun Murphy in the first round of the Masters, Selby fell 1–5 behind before recovering to 5–5, but lost the match 5–6 on the deciding frame. It was the first time that Selby lost in a deciding frame at the Masters, having won the previous 11 deciding frames. At the German