Steve Davis remained at No. 1 for 7 consecutive seasons in the 1980s and Stephen Hendry for 8 seasons in the 1990s. It’s a relatively safe assessment in saying that competition has ramped up as time goes on, which is why it’s such an impressive (and sometimes unnoticed) accomplishment when Mark Selby was able to match Davis’ performance from 2012-19.
Firstly this should be taken with a grain of salt. And by ‘grain’, I mean a literal grain because there isn’t anything that can be taken away from this achievement. Selby’s run wasn’t a continuous sailing at the No. 1 position. Partway through this period he did temporarily get overtaken in the rankings but by the end of the season had reclaimed his top position. This is why most hear about him holding No. 1 for over 4 years which refers to him never losing first place at any point until it was recently toppled by O’Sullivan last season.
This kind of run at No. 1 hasn’t come close to being replicated since Hendry and this includes the Class of ’92. Given that they were each other’s main competition while other talents were still emerging is perhaps the reason they weren’t able to achieve this. However, Selby managed to break through all this, in a period where the Class of ’92 were winning World Championships and establish a legacy that will categorise him with the greats.
Even though the ranking system has been altered over the years, one fundamental factor the remains true is that if you perform well, this will be reflected in the rankings. Selby’s Triple Crown performance from 2014-17 would have had him at World No. 1 regardless of the ranking system in place. And due to the 2 year money rolling system, is what allowed him to stay at the top of the rankings for so long. Considering how the rankings used to only be updated once a season but now is effectively updated after every tournament made Selby’s accomplishment even more impressive, as his position could have changed at any point.
If we describe periods of snooker in eras, we have the Davis era, Hendry era, the Class of ’92 era (which is still ongoing) but then I like to think the Selby era rose next. Not necessarily because Selby dominated in a way those before him did, but he certainly paved the way for the arrival of newer competition in players like Robertson, Ding and Trump. I guess you could call it the Competition era.
Actually, Selby did kind of dominate like Davis and Hendry did; 3 WSC’s in 4 years – something not done since Hendry. During this period, he was able to win 5 ranking events in a single season – tying Hendry, O’Sullivan and Ding. Higgins referred to Selby as the modern day Steve Davis after their final in 2017, which I don’t think is too far off. It took one relatively poor season and a couple of ranking climbers like O’Sullivan and Trump to finally overthrow the reign Selby had held for so long.
There are some snooker fans who are distasteful towards Selby and his style of play which is perhaps one of the reasons why this remarkable feat doesn’t often get the attention it should. Personally, I love watching Selby play because of his brilliant snooker brain and ability to navigate his way around a table. Realistically, Selby is only 3 or 4 good seasons away from being able to match the likes of the Trinity (Davis/Hendry/O’Sullivan) and I think he is a player who will be able stand the test of time long enough to try and make this happen.
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