Mark Selby with a shock 3–5 defeat to Andrew Pagett in the qualifying rounds of the 2013 Wuxi Classic. The tournament was the first to use a new format that required top-16 players to compete in qualifiers. In minor-ranking tournaments, Selby was runner-up in the Yixing Open, where he lost 1–4 to Joe Perry, and the Rotterdam Open, where he lost 3–4 to Mark Williams. He won the Antwerp Open, defeating Ronnie O'Sullivan 4–3 in the final. In December, in the seventh frame of his UK Championship semi-final against Ricky Walden, Selby compiled snooker's 100th officially recognised maximum break in professional competition.
Mark Selby one of the best matches ever played in the tournament's history, to reach his second world championship final and first for seven years. Selby played Ronnie O'Sullivan in the final, who previously had won all five of his finals and was the two-time defending champion. O'Sullivan led 3–0, 8–3, and 10–5, but Selby then won six frames in a row to lead for the first time and went on to seal an 18–14 victory for his first world championship title. With the victory, Selby became the ninth player to win the Triple Crown of World, UK and Masters titles (and