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 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