Mark Selby came up short against Luca Brecel in a classic World Championship final, but while he was disappointed with the 18-15 defeat, he knew there were important things in his life.
"Twelve months ago it was just nice to come back and just play and try to enjoy it,” he told BBC Sport. “From where I've been to where I am now, I've enjoyed the last two weeks.
"It didn't finish how I wanted it to, but with things going on off the table as well, not just with me but with Vikki as well you know, obviously I realise that health is more important. This is a game; a game that you want to win but if you don't it's not the end of the world."
Brecel was magnanimous in victory, echoing his beaten opponent’s thoughts. “I have the best team, best family, best girlfriend, best friends and it makes you so strong,” he said. “And I would just like to say to Mark and Vikki – stay strong.”
Important role
Selby’s wife Vikki Layton is a familiar face at the Crucible, having been by her husband’s side for disappointment like on Monday, but also for his four World Championship titles. She has played an extremely important role in Selby’s extraordinarily successful career.
The couple first met at the World Pool Championships in 2006. Vikki is a former international pool player, who was captain of Ireland for 10 years. Her experience of high-level sport, especially one so similar to snooker, has helped their relationship blossom.
“She knows what it takes to get to the top and what you have to do. In that way, it’s obviously great and that’s why we’re close and we work,” Selby once told the BBC.
She also helped Selby in other ways, away from the snooker table. “He had a flat in the middle of Leicester and it literally had nothing in it at all,” Vikki told Sky Sports. “His kitchen was that clean, he obviously had never used it, he didn’t have pots or anything.”
The couple got engaged in Venice in 2010 before tying the knot a year later. Their wedding ceremony was held in Mexico in May 2011 and, in 2014, they had their first child, Sofia, who has been around for all four of Selby’s Crucible wins.
Family heartbreak
The marriage has been particularly important for the 39-year-old from Leicester because of the heartbreak in his family life. Selby’s mother Shirley abandoned him at the age of eight and his father died of cancer when he was 16.
“I’ve not seen my mum for many years. She still lives in Leicester, but I’m not really in contact with her,” he told Eurosport in 2015. Selby initially struggled to talk about his mum leaving, but gradually opened up to Vikki.
She told Sky Sports: “When I first met Mark, he didn’t really speak about it a lot. It took him quite a long time to open up about it all – and when he did he found it easier to talk about it more and more.”
Selby became close with Vikki’s family and when he won his second world title against Ding Junhui in 2016, he dedicated his triumph to his father-in-law, who passed away in September 2015: "I've not really got that much family, so I class Vikki's family as my own.”
The emotional support network has been key to Selby’s success. Asked if he wanted Vikki to come to every tournament he played in, Selby told the BBC: “Yeah, definitely. If I could, financially, I would take her to every single tournament I play in, because the majority of the time, every tournament she comes to I tend to do well, get to the latter stages, if not win it. When she’s not there, I’ve not done so well.”
She has been there to pick him up during the hard times. He suffered a bulged disc in his neck last year, which threatened his continued participation on tour. “Vikki was great to be honest, as she always is,” he told Sky Sports. “When I was there, I was doing all the different stretches that the physio told me to do, and Vikki was always trying to keep me positive.”
Mental health struggles
Selby’s biggest challenge has not been a physical injury, but mental. Last January he opened up on social media about his mental health issues, tweeting: “Just want to apologise to all my friends and family for letting them down. Mentally not in a good place at moment, had a relapse and trying to bottle it up and put a brave face on is not the way. I promise I will get help and be a become a better person. #mentalhealth.”
Before the Masters in January this year, Selby opened up on his struggles – and the support from Vikki. "It has probably been harder for her than me in many ways,” he said. “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.”
Six-time World Champion Steve Davis explained the importance of Vikki to Selby’s career succinctly. “If somebody has something in their life that all of a sudden gives them more of a purpose and, in a way, takes the pressure off the personal winning and makes it more of a team effort,” he said. “If you can play for someone else, and feel like you’re part of a team, I think it’s easier to play snooker and win.”
