Mark Selby in the last 64. In the first round of the Masters, Selby played against Mark Willams in a repeat of the 2017 edition. However, it was Williams who prevailed in their encounter 6–5. It was also the second time that Selby lost in a deciding frame at the tournament. Selby retained his China Open title, defeating Barry Hawkins 11–3 in the final. It was the 3rd China Open title he won in 4 years. Selby's two-year reign as World Champion came to an end at the first round of the 2018 World Snooker Championship. Facing Joe Perry, Selby trailed 2–7
Mark Selby to the final of the China Open and he took the final three frames against Mark Williams to claim his fourth ranking event title of the season 10–8. No one came close to Selby as he progressed through to the semi-finals of the World Championship, which included a 13–3 thrashing of Marco Fu in the quarter-finals with a session to spare. He next faced Ding Junhui who closed the gap to 16–15, after Selby had been 16–13 ahead. Selby won the 32nd frame to reach his third world final in four years. Selby had an incredible run of winning 12