‘It was emotional’ – Mark Selby enjoys winning return to the World Snooker Championship

Mark Selby enjoyed an emotional return to the Crucible on Saturday as he began the defence of his World Championship title with a 10-7 win over Jamie Jones, while he continues to deal with mental health issues.

The 38-year-old is back in the venue where he won his fourth world title a year ago, but it has been a really tough time for him since that amazing night when he beat Shaun Murphy.

Speaking out about his ongoing mental health problems in January, Selby has taken a step back from snooker over the last couple of months and said he had not prepared as thoroughly as normal for a trip to Sheffield.

He was not at his best against Jones, but such is his quality that he was able to make three big centuries (137, 134 and 129) and four more half-centuries en route to victory.

After the win, the defending champion said that his mental state has improved and it was emotional in a positive sense as he stepped into the Crucible Theatre again.

‘Better,’ Selby told Eurosport when asked how he is feeling. ‘It was tough, it was quite emotional going out there today, because the last two tournaments I’ve not played because it’s been quite tough.

<p lang=«en» dir=«ltr» xml:lang=«en»>This man is always in the mood for the Crucible ð¥#ilovesnooker @Betfred pic.twitter.com/T2twjYFHHf

‘I’ve been working with this doctor for a little while, he told me to carry on playing at the start, but I just felt like it was getting a bit too much, a bit too much pressure and with me not being in the right mental state. So we gave it a go but then we took a break.

‘I was still up in the air over whether I was going to play in this or not. The last few weeks I’ve done a lot of sessions with him and he’s got me a little bit better, I’m definitely on the right