Williams v Selby - The Masters 2017

The Masters 2017 is underway at the Alexandra Palace in London, and tomorrow will be the final day of Round 1 action. So far, we've had reigning champion Ronnie O`Sullivan surviving a big scare against Liang Wenbo on Sunday, Mark Allen beating John Higgins in one of he best matches of the season yesterday, plus Ding Junhui and Joe Perry setting up a Quarter-Final meeting. But a Round 1 clash that is yet to come (tomorrow at 1pm [local time] live on the BBC) is particularly interesting.
Last month Mark Selby won the UK Championship for a 2nd time, and now he's part of the elite group of 6 players to have won each Triple Crown event at least twice. That was also his 7th Triple Crown event win, putting him one ahead Mark Williams - his opponent tomorrow as he kicks off the campaign where he seeks to become only the fifth player to own the World, UK and Masters titles simultaneously, just after celebrating 100 weeks at the top of the World Rankings.
Right after Mark Selby won the UK Championship, I wrote here in the Blog that I thought he had surpassed Mark Williams in the list of all-time greats and that even though I think Mark Williams was an underachiever, I believe Mark Seby has got a lot in him yet.
Even in the head to head it's difficult to split them, in 25 matches there was 13 wins for Mark Williams and 12 for Mark Selby, who won the latest one at the Welsh Open 2016 (even in frames the count is tight, Williams won 97 and lost 92 frames against Mark Selby). However, my mate Chris Varney, who has featured here in the Blog a couple times, can speak better than me about it for having been a Snooker fan since before Mark Williams' peak in the early 2000's, and he has wrote us a comparison between these two legends of the sport. Here it is:

How do you compare players? Is it the trophies they've won? Or is it the eras they were in? With the upcoming 'Mark Williams v Mark Selby' clash, we take a look at careers which have more than one comparison.

Mark Williams - A player from the class of '92, no this isn't the Manchester United film documentary profiling a bunch of United greats from yesteryear, here we have our own snooker greats - Williams, who along with Ronnie O'Sullivan and John Higgins turned professional in that glorious year of 1992. Williams has won it all, two world titles (2000 & 2003), two UK titles (1999 & 2002), two Masters titles (1998 & 2003), a total of 18 ranking event titles which puts him behind only Hendry (36), J. Higgins (28), O'Sullivan (28), and Davis (also on 28 wins). 
One of the game's best single ball potters, Williams was at times untouchable in the early 2000's, winning the triple crown during the 2002/03 season (2002 UK, 2003 Masters & 2003 WSC). Playing at his peak and winning against the likes of Hendry, O'Sullivan, Higgins, Stevens, Doherty and Hunter to name a few is an impressive CV to have. There's something different and special watching a left hander at work and Williams was at one time the ultimate. A player as gracious in defeat as in victory and one of the most likeable laid-back characters on tour. Possibly his most famous win was at the 1998 Masters held at the now defunct Wembley Conference Centre in London. Williams found himself 6-9 down to Stephen Hendry and clawed his way back to 9-9. The game would end on the final black, but this wasn't just a black, it was a re-spotted black and along with the famous gold Benson and Hedges trophy a cheque of £145k. Anyone who was fortunate enough to watch Williams during his peak years would appreciate they were watching one of the greats. Long potting, break building, safety, all came alike at one time. Maybe his best days are gone, but Mark Williams will forever be remembered as a snooker great.

Mark Selby - Here we have the comparison with Williams, two world's (2014 & 2016) and two UK titles (2012 & 2016). Selby has 3 Masters wins and so far a total of 10 ranking event titles. Apart from those wins in the WSC and UK, The Jester from Leicester doesn't compare with Williams in any other way. Selby had a difficult childhood but stood firm to become the player of his generation. In his own admission he lacks the flair of an O'Sullivan, but he sure makes it up in grit and will to win. Mark Selby is a throwback to the 1980's, a player who is very methodical, but very successful. He's a snake that will suffocate you to a painful death, not lock on with his jaws and finish the job like a nile crocodile. He's not always slow and pedestrian, he can muster some speed and is deadly in the break building department when he gets going. If you had one player to play for your life with the score at 1-9 in a best of 19 then Mark Selby is your man. It was his never say die attitude which kept the pressure on O'Sullivan and made the rocket crack to complete his lifelong dream of lifting the world crown. 
Currently sitting like a king at the top of the world ranking list, Selby will be a man hard to shift. But snooker is ever-changing and with so many tournaments on offer things can change quickly. 
With the likes of O'Sullivan, Higgins, Ding, Robertson, Trump and Murphy to name a few, this is a tasty era. Is it as good as the 90's and early 2000's when Williams ruled the roost? That's a debate for social media and down the pub, but one thing is for certain: both Williams and Selby have achieved greatness in the game of snooker.


Well, this is it and I want to thank my friend Chris Varney, always a pleasure to have him here in the Blog.
You can follow The Masters 2017 on the BBC screens as usual (click here for the event's schedule), and don't forget you can follow us on Facebook for coverage of all Snooker events and news.