Selby storms to victory

Mark Selby clinched his second title of the season as he defeated Mark Davis 4-0 in the final of the Paul Hunter Classic.

The event, the fourth of the Players Tour Championship series, was staged in front of capacity crowds at the Stadthalle Furth in Germany.

More than 240 professionals and amateurs competed and Selby was in thrilling form as he whitewashed Sam Harvey, Rory McLeod, Craig Steadman and Andrew Higginson in his opening four rounds.

He finally lost a frame in his 4-1 quarter-final victory over Stephen Lee but his toughest task came against Ronnie O'Sullivan in the semi-finals when he recovered from 3-1 behind to win 4-3.

In the final Selby, the current world number three, made breaks of 47, 73, 99 and 60 as he stormed to his second win in two months, after winning the invitational Wuxi Classic in China in July.

"I played well all week and although I didn't always score fantastically, I didn't give my opponents many chances," said Leicester-based Selby.

"In the second frame against Mark I was 70 behind but cleared up with a 73 and that was a big turning point. If you lose the first two frames then you're up against it as it's only the best of seven.

"It's hard to beat O'Sullivan at any time and even more so when you're 3-1 down. Before that point I had chances to make it 2-2 and I would've been very disappointed if I had lost 4-1.

"But I stayed positive and if I thought I couldn't win then there wouldn't have been any point in continuing and I might as well have just shook his hand.

"Winning Wuxi was great and I had a decent run in Australia (at the Australian Open) getting to the quarter-final. This puts me back on track but I just have to maintain it now. I've just been practising harder and harder.

"But it's going to be a long season and I don't want to burn myself out. Last year I played over 100 matches and felt it towards the back end of the season."

Paul Hunter, a three-time winner of the Masters, died aged only 27 in 2006, and Selby felt it was a fitting tribute for the popular tournament to be named after him.

"I didn't get to know Paul personally but from what everyone said he was a great guy and one of the nicest players you could ever meet," added Selby.

!His playing record speaks for itself and he was a class act. I picked up the trophy off of Paul's dad and you could see him welling up a bit. We all still miss Paul."