Selby: Hearn the man to fix snooker

Fri May 07 09:34

It hasn't been a great week for snooker with John Higgins being suspended after he was accused by the News of the World of taking a bribe to lose frames in future matches.

It was very disappointing to see the paper's video footage, especially as it concerned John, who I get on really well with, and whom I'm sure I will continue to get on well with after all this is finally sorted out.

I will reserve judgement on the situation until all the facts emerge, and I hope everyone else will do the same thing, but I admit it does not look good for John.

Personally, I can say that nobody has ever come to me and asked me if I would influence the outcome of a match, and obviously it is not in my nature to even consider such a thing.

We had a players' meeting in Sheffield last Wednesday when Barry Hearn laid out his plans for the future, and while it wasn't all doom and gloom amongst the players, the stories that have been emerging about match-fixing over the last year have certainly not helped the game which has been in trouble in any event.

People from the outside will see stories like the ones that have been in the papers and might have a negative view of the game.

However, I truly believe that Barry is the man, and indeed the only man, who can shake up the sport. I think snooker will have a really promising future if he is allowed to take over the game. You just have to look at what he has done for darts.

Six or seven years ago darts barely registered with people but now it is one of the most watched sports on television.

His proposals are really promising, and the players are excited about them. He is the type of person who can properly deal with these scandals and in a year's time, when the dust from them has properly settled, hopefully we can again look ahead to a bright future in the sport of snooker.

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Looking back on my World Championship performance and I would say that overall I was slightly disappointed because I came to the Crucible to win the tournament.

At the same time though, it could have been a lot worse, as you saw lots of big names drop out of the tournament early on.

I have to give credit though to Graeme Dott, who beat me in the semi-final. He played really well and every time I looked like I was getting close to him, he came back into it and pulled away again.

The quarter-final match with Ronnie O'Sullivan was very draining, it finished quiet late in the evening, and I think my tiredness showed in the first session against Graeme in the semis.

However, by the second and third session I was feeling okay, so I don't want to make it sound like I'm making excuses, Graeme deserved his win.

The World Championships though is a very tiring experience, and the luck of the draw can play a key role. Some players get a three or four day break before the quarter-finals and that is really ideal while other players are thrust straight back into action and are playing every day during the second week.

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The season is now finished, and I'm jetting off to Spain with my girlfriend and her parents for two weeks' holiday this weekend.

Looking back on the season as a whole, I'd give myself a rating of seven or eight out of 10 for my performances.

It looked grim and miserable at one stage, but I'm glad I managed to turn it around. I got to the quarter-finals of the Welsh and then followed that by winning the Masters, which while not a ranking event, is still one of the biggest events in the calendar.

I felt I played really well in China and was beaten by an inspired Ding Junhui, and then I had a decent World Championship to finish things off.

I'll be back in action in June at the Jiangsu Classic and then there is a Six Reds tournament in Thailand in July.

After that, all that's left is to start practising for what will hopefully be a great 2010/11 season.