Selby in confident mood

Selby: Youthful entusiasm

I'll go there confident, but there are a lot of players out there who will never win the world title and they're great players.

Mark Selby on his World Championship hopes
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Former Betfred.com World Championship runner-up Mark Selby knows he would be in good company if he never lifted the famous title.

Jimmy White and Matthew Stevens are two noteable names who went close to winning on more than one occasion, and Selby believes it will not get any easier with the standard rising every year.

The Leicester cueman has hardly been handed the kindest of draws either, with 1997 champion Ken Doherty first up before a likely date with seven-time winner Stephen Hendry.

Ronnie O'Sullivan could be awaiting in the quarter-finals but Selby will be taking it one match at a time.

"I think by getting to the final and going to within a few frames of winning it, I've proven to myself that I'm capable," Selby said as he reflected on his 18-13 defeat to John Higgins three years ago.

"There are so many good players out there nowadays that it's very, very difficult. I'll go there confident, but there are a lot of players out there who will never win the world title and they're great players.

"You look at someone like Matthew Stevens, whose record on paper says he should be a world champion, it's just so difficult.

"I'm still only 26 and I've got plenty of years left in me yet, so I know I go there believing I'm capable of winning it."

While not exactly in the first flush of youth, Selby still has an infectious enthusiasm for the game and is still enjoying being a part of the Sheffield experience.

"It's obviously what I play the game for, to play the best players at the big venues," he added. "It's great just going out there and playing these sorts of players.

"If someone had told me seven or eight years ago that I'd be at the Crucible playing Stephen Hendry or Ronnie O'Sullivan I'd have bitten their hand off. It's such a privilege and an enjoyment to be doing something that I love to do."