Snooker ace Matthew Selt delights in win over Judd Trump

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MATTHEW Selt only set up base in Atherstone a few weeks ago but the move has already paid instant dividends with his best-ever run in a ranking tournament.

Selt stormed to the semi-finals of the Gdynia Open in Poland at the weekend, with former world finalist Judd Trump among his several victims.

Eventual winner Shaun Murphy sent Selt packing at the last four stage of the Players Tour Championship (PTC) event but it was still an excellent weekend for the Essex native.

And Selt admitted that his only regret now was not having made the move to the area earlier.

He said: “I know I’ve only been in the area since the beginning of December but I feel very settled and happy to be here and intend to make it my home.

“I should be getting my table put in at the club this Thursday and when that’s there, I will be in from 9am-4pm every single day.

“It’s amazing how quickly things can change. At the weekend, after the first couple of matches, I was annoyed.

“I was lucky that the players I’d played weren’t good enough to beat me as I didn’t play well. It showed how bad I’d become.

“Then I played Anthony Hamilton, beat him 4-0 – I think he scored 14 points in the whole match and I won it with six scoring visits. You can’t play much better than that.

“But I’ve spent the last 18 months to two years messing about and neglecting my game.

“I’d been telling myself it was all right and sugar-coating my problems. I thought practicing two or three hours here and there was sufficient.

“Winning can become a habit and so does losing and when you’re on a losing streak, it’s hard to get out of it.

“I’m 50th in the world on the money list and I know I should be top 30 or top 20 but the rankings don’t lie and I’m where I am because of the poor results I’ve had the last couple of years.”

Selt’s televised victory over Trump was one of the highlights of his Polish adventure and he felt the title was his for the taking had he overcome Murphy in the semis.

He added: “Judd is one of the crowd favourites out there in Poland so to beat him 4-1 was pretty good.

“I’m good mates with him but when you look at it on paper to beat him 4-1 very convincingly is a great result and felt really good.

“It made me want to come back and really hit the practice table hard.

“I was disappointed to lose to Shaun and it’s the first time he’s beaten me in one of those PTC events.

“I felt that it was my final as if I’d beaten Shaun, I’d have played Fergal O’Brien and I fancied my chances against him.

“But I played a bit loose, gave him a couple of half-chances and he punished me.”