Mark Selby thanks wife Vikki for career-saving mental health support ahead of Masters title bid - 'She has been a rock'
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ByEurosport
Updated 02/01/2023 at 12:13 GMT
Mark Selby faces Zhao Xintong in his tournament opener at the Masters on Sunday night in a buoyant mood after ending his 18-month title drought with victory at the English Open. Selby completed a 9-6 final win over Lucal Brecel amid emotional scenes last month. The three-time Masters winner continues to fight depression, but has thanked wife Vikki for her help in his mental health battle.
Emotional scenes as Selby claims English Open title after very tough year
Mark Selby will begin his quest for a fourth Masters title at London's Alexandra Palace on Sunday evening buoyed by his English Open title before Christmas.
The four-time world champion meets 2021 UK champion Zhao Xintong in his tournament opener on Sunday evening, live on Eurosport, insisting he is feeling good about his game having hit the practice table over the festive period.
Selby ended his 18-month title drought with a 9-6 win over Luca Brecel in the English Open final in Brentwood to preserve his remarkable record of winning a major tournament every year since 2011.
Coming at the end of a year when the 21-time ranking event winner went public with his battle against depression after a 6-1 defeat to Barry Hawkins in the Masters last eight last January, the Leicester player described the English Open win as the greatest of his career.
“I want to be competing for the biggest titles again," said Selby, who lifted the Masters in 2008, 2010 and 2013. "I have started putting the work and the hours in again when previously I wasn’t. You can’t cheat the game.
“I got the reward at the English Open and hopefully there will be more to come in 2023. It was emotional, as you saw from me and Vikki on the night.
"It has probably been harder for her than me in many ways. She hasn’t always known the right thing to say, and was worried whether she was helping or making it worse.
"That is something the psychiatrist made a real point of – telling me that whatever I was feeling, those closest to me would be feeling the effects as bad or worse.
“And she has been a rock, I genuinely think but for her I might not be sat here now. I owe her everything. And they’re always right, the other half aren’t they? I should have listened to her first time.
"Vikki had been saying to me for ages ‘Be brave and speak out’, but it never felt the right time to do it. And it didn’t even when I did it, which is probably why I did it on social media. I have been amazed by the supportive nature of the response, that’s for sure.
"More so among the general public, people just coming up, and saying 'Well done, good luck, it was brave what you did'."
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Emotional scenes as Selby claims English Open title after very tough year
Selby admits he is feeling in a positive frame of mind after taking inspiration from world heavyweight boxing champion Tyson Fury's fight with the black dog of depression.
"Off the table I am in a far better place," he said in an interview with The Sportsman.
"I am not out of the woods yet because you can fall back into it. I read something with Tyson Fury a while back and he was saying the reason he came out of retirement was because he felt himself slipping back into his old ways how he was.
"And he needed that to get some extra motivation and give himself something to do.
“And as a result of the work off the table, I am enjoying it again on the table. It is the bravest and hardest thing I have ever done, confronting these issues, speaking out and getting help, harder than any match I have ever played, and any title I have ever won – by a long stretch."
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'I've been suffering for a few years silently' - Emotional Selby on journey to English Open title
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