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
2016 World Snooker Championship frames were shared until Selby won the final two frames to win the match 17–15. The 32nd frame also lasted more than an hour. Ding Junhui was the first qualifier to contest the final since Judd Trump was beaten by John Higgins in 2011. The Chinese player also became the first Asian finalist at the Crucible, and the match drew a peak television audience of over 42 million in China on CCTV-5. In the first session of the final, Mark Selby took a 6–0 lead, before Ding won the last two frames of the session to leave Selby 6–2 ahead.