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
2014 World Snooker Championship two frames he made breaks of 94 and 92, narrowly missing his 100th century of the season. Barry Hawkins met Ricky Walden in a repeat of the previous year's semi-final. Hawkins defeated Walden again, this time 13–11, to reach his second Crucible quarter-final. Mark Selby defeated two-time runner-up Ali Carter 13–9. Selby won eight of the second session's nine frames against Alan McManus, after they could only finish seven frames in the first session, and went on to win the match 13–5. Having trailed 2-0 and needing three snookers in the third frame, O'Sullivan won 13 of the last 14