Mark Selby is certainly a man that you would pick, if you
had to pick a player to make a big comeback in a match when he was on the
brink. That was exactly what he was able to do back in August against Mark
Allen to win the Riga Open and become my pick for the moment of the month for
August.
To make the final Mark Selby had beaten Ian Burns, Mike Dunn
and Jimmy Robertson earlier on in the tournament before victories over Aditya
Mehta, Peter Ebdon and Barry Hawkins earlier on, on the Sunday to make it into
the final. Meanwhile, in the top half of the draw Mark Allen had overcome Ryan
Causton, Anthony Hamilton and Ben Woollaston in the early stages before further
wins against Mark Williams, Sean O’Sullivan and Anthony McGill to set up the
final against Selby.
When the final came around it was the in-form Mark Allen
that got off to the perfect start in the match as a run of 74 put him 1-0 ahead
in the best-of-7 final, as they always
are on the European Tour. It looked like Mark Selby was going to level the
match when he was on a break of 54 in the second but when he broke down and
Allen got his chance he was able to make it 2-0 by stealing the frame with a 56
contribution. The third frame was pretty even and again, went down to the
colours and again it was Allen who won the battle and looked to be strolling
along to victory at 3-0.
That though was where the switch flicked for Mark Selby as
it always seems to when he’s staring defeat in the face and he finds that extra
gear. A break of 65 did the job for the World Champion in frame four for him to
get on the score sheet, before a fine century in the fifth would’ve had Mark
Allen worried in his chair as he certainly knows what Selby is capable of. In
frame six a break of 62 got Selby over the line and he was now playing some of
his best snooker in the tournament, having relaxed possibly from the feeling
that defeat was near and the pressure being on Allen to win it. In the decider,
Allen had the first opportunity but he couldn’t make enough from it and when
Selby was left in a break of 63 was the catalyst for him taking the frame and
the match completing a fantastic turnaround with a 4-3 victory to win the Riga
Open European Tour one event.
How does Mark Selby keep producing these wonderful moments
and unbelievable comebacks? Is it simply the refusal to lose a match if he can
do anything at all about it? Or does he simply relax and loosen up to play his
best snooker, pressure free, by feeling that all is lost in the match? Well
only Mark Selby could explain it, but he does it time and time again proving
rightly so that he is one of the very best in the business, and one of the
toughest men to finish off.
What another key and amazing moment that was in the snooker year of 2014, and there's more in that vain to come tomorrow when I reveal my best moment of September, so be sure to come back and have a look out for that.
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