SELBY FINDS JOY ON AND OFF THE TABLE

Former champion insists going public about his years of mental health problems has given him a new lease of life both in sport and away from it

- HECTOR NUNNS

MARK SELBY claims going public about years of mental-health battles has given him a new lease of life.

When Selby celebrated the second of his four World Championship wins at the Crucible seven years ago, his wife Vikki knew something was wrong.

Despite such a colossal achievement, the joy was non-existent, and she told her husband: “You just stared through me as if I wasn’t there.”

World No.2 Selby, now 39 and unquestionably one of the greatest players of any generation, tried to manage the problem in private with anti-depressants. But there was a moment of cathartic reckoning during last year’s Masters which led to him going public about an ongoing battle, and taking time away from the game.

He believes that the therapy, help and support he has received since then have made him a better man, husband and father.