Mark Selby of both the Masters and Welsh Open to Ronnie O'Sullivan, but won the Gdynia Open with a 4–1 victory over Martin Gould. Before the World Championship Selby withdrew from the PTC Finals and China Open due to personal reasons. He beat Robert Milkins 10–6, Sam Baird 13–11 and Kyren Wilson 13–8 to face Marco Fu in the semi-finals. Selby drew level at 12–12 thanks to winning a 76-minute frame, the longest in Crucible history and went on to win 17–15 with an excellent snooker on the brown in the final frame. He took a 6–0 lead over Ding Junhui in
Mark Selby He continued his form at the Shanghai Masters, where he won his second major ranking event by defeating Mark Williams 10–9 in the final, having trailed 9–7. The win also meant Selby usurped Williams as the world number one, making him the ninth player to hold the top spot and the first to do so without having previously won the World Championship. He also won the minor-ranking PTC Event 4 (also known as the Paul Hunter Classic) with a 4–0 whitewash over Mark Davis, having edged out Ronnie O'Sullivan 4–3 in the semi-finals. Selby would later finish 5th on the