Matthew Selt (born 7 March 1985) is an English professional snooker player. He qualified for the professional tour by finishing seventh in the Pontin's International Open Series in 2006/2007. He played in his first professional final in 2014 at the minor-ranking Lisbon Open, which he lost to Stephen Maguire, and has reached five quarter-finals in full ranking events. Selt won his first ranking title when he beat Lyu Haotian in the 2019 Indian Open final. In February 2025, a World Snooker disciplinary inquiry into Selt's behaviour at the 2024 German Masters imposed a suspended sentence of three months, fined him ã10,000 and made him pay the governing body's costs in bringing the case; Selt apologised unreservedly for his actions.
In 2008, Selt was cleared by a WPBSA tribunal over allegations that he had bribed an opponent to lose a match at the 2007 International Open Series.
He made an important breakthrough at the start of the 200910 season by reaching the last 32 of the Shanghai Masters by winning four qualifying matches, ending with a 5âÂÂ4 victory over Steve Davis. There he faced John Higgins, losing 5âÂÂ2. He also impressed at the Grand Prix, by recovering from 0âÂÂ4 against Jordan Brown to win 5âÂÂ4 and going on to beat Jimmy White, Stuart Pettman and Fergal O'Brien to reach the final stages of a tournament for the second time in succession. There he was drawn against Stephen Hendry who beat him 5âÂÂ2.
Selt began the 2011âÂÂ12 season ranked 43rd meaning he would have to win two qualifying matches to reach the ranking event main draws. He did this at the first ranking event of the season: the Australian Goldfields Open by beating Adrian Gunnell and Ricky Walden. In the last 32 he played reigning world champion John Higgins and pulled off the biggest result of his career to date by overcoming a deficit of 1âÂÂ4, to triumph 5âÂÂ4 and win a televised match for the first time. He then beat Stephen Hendry 5âÂÂ1 to earn himself his first ranking event quarter-final, where he lost 3âÂÂ5 to Shaun Murphy. Selt qualified for the main draw of the UK Championship for the first time in 2011 by defeating Mark King 6âÂÂ4 in the final round of qualifying. His reward was a tie against former world champion Graeme Dott, who beat him 6âÂÂ1. He failed to qualify for any of the remaining ranking events and finished the season ranked world number 44.
At the start of the 2012âÂÂ13 season Selt reached the quarter-finals of the Australian Goldfields Open for the second consecutive season. He beat Thepchaiya Un-Nooh and Jamie Jones in qualifying, and once he reached Australia he came back from 0âÂÂ2 and 3âÂÂ4 down to knock out the defending champion Stuart Bingham 5âÂÂ4. He then defeated Ryan Day 5âÂÂ3, before losing to Barry Hawkins by the same scoreline in the quarters. Selt struggled after this as he couldn't qualify for eight successive ranking events and only won three matches all year in the eight minor-ranking Players Tour Championship events he entered to finish a lowly 104th on the Order of Merit.
He rediscovered his form in World Championship Qualifying by seeing off Thanawat Thirapongpaiboon 10âÂÂ8 to be just one match away from reaching the opening round of the tournament for the first time. Selt played 1997 champion Ken Doherty and at 9âÂÂ4 ahead he looked to be heading to the Crucible with ease. However, Doherty came back to trail 7âÂÂ9, and when Selt lost the next frame from a position of 55âÂÂ0 ahead all the momentum was with the Irishman. The match went into a deciding frame with Selt again building a 55âÂÂ0 lead and this time hanging on to seal his place in the first round, where he met world number one Mark Selby, losing 4âÂÂ10. He ended the campaign where he started it, ranked world number 44.
Selt failed to qualify for the opening four ranking events of the 201314 season, but then whitewashed Chris Norbury 6âÂÂ0 to reach the first round of the International Championship, where he lost 6âÂÂ3 to Martin Gould. His best result by far in the minor-ranking European Tour events came at the final tournament, the Gdynia Open as he whitewashed three opponents 4âÂÂ0 and beat Judd Trump 4âÂÂ1 in a televised quarter-final, before losing by the same scoreline to Shaun Murphy in the semis. After the event, Selt stated that he had been neglecting his game for the last two years by occasionally practising two or three hours and that he believed his ranking of 50 would be 20 or 30 places higher if he had played to his true ability. He finished 32nd on the European Order of Merit, seven places outside of qualifying for the Finals. His deepest run in a ranking event this season came after this at the China Open when he beat Ryan Day 5âÂÂ2, before losing 5âÂÂ2 to Ali Carter in the last 32.
Selt progressed through to the semi-finals of the Haining Open, losing 4âÂÂ1 to Stuart Bingham. His first win at the venue stage of a full ranking event this season came courtesy of a 6âÂÂ0 whitewash over Hammad Miah at the UK Championship. Selt then knocked out Xiao Guodong and Rory McLeod both 6âÂÂ4 to face Ronnie O'Sullivan in the fourth round. O'Sullivan made a 147 in the final frame as he won 6âÂÂ0, with Selt saying afterwards that despite having numerous chances throughout the match he never settled. Selt responded in his next event by winning four matches to reach the quarter-finals of the Lisbon Open and then defeated Judd Trump 4âÂÂ1 and Barry Hawkins 4âÂÂ2 to play in his first final in a minor-ranking event. He took the opening frame against Stephen Maguire, but went on to lose 4âÂÂ2. His first quarter-final in a ranking event this season came at the PTC Grand Final after he eliminated Oliver Lines 4âÂÂ1 and Chris Wakelin 4âÂÂ2 and he led Mark Williams 3âÂÂ1, but could not reach the first semi-final of his career as Williams would knock him out in a final frame decider. Selt's season looked to be ending in disappointment as he trailed Jimmy White 7âÂÂ2 in the second round of World Championship qualifying. However, he took eight of the nine frames upon the resumption of play and won in the final round 10âÂÂ8 against Tom Ford. In the first round Selt lost another opening session 7âÂÂ2 this time against Barry Hawkins. He also went on to be 9âÂÂ4 behind but then won five frames in a row which included back-to-back centuries and a 94 break. He couldn't win his first match at the Crucible Theatre as he lost the deciding frame. Selt finished a season inside the top 32 in the rankings for the first time in his career as he was the world number 30.
In the first round of the 2015 Australian Goldfields Open, Neil Robertson fought back to 4âÂÂ4 after Selt had been 4âÂÂ0 up. The deciding frame lasted 55 minutes and Selt took it on the final blue and then edged past Mark Joyce 5âÂÂ4 to reach the quarter-finals of the event for the third time. He was unable to feature in his first ranking event semi-final as Martin Gould comfortably beat him 5âÂÂ1. However, Selt rose to a career-high 27th in the world rankings soon afterwards and credited his improvement in play to his coach Chris Henry, his mentor Stephen Hendry, as well as his own personal fitness. He lost 5âÂÂ4 on the final black to Judd Trump in the second round of the Shanghai Masters. Despite describing his play as pretty terrible, Selt reached the fourth round of the UK Championship and recovered from 3âÂÂ1 down against Luca Brecel to knock him out 6âÂÂ4. He also said that his 6âÂÂ0 loss to Ronnie O'Sullivan a year earlier had improved him as a player. In his first UK quarter-final he was defeated 6âÂÂ1 by Mark Selby, but the ã20,000 in prize money he earned is the biggest of his career so far. O'Sullivan beat Selt 3âÂÂ0 in the semi-finals of the non-ranking Championship League. He failed to qualify for the World Championship after losing 10âÂÂ9 to Mitchell Mann in the second qualifying round. His ranking over the course of the season rose five places to world number 25.
Selt overcame Matthew Stevens 5âÂÂ2 and Sam Craigie 5âÂÂ4 at the World Open, before losing 5âÂÂ2 to Anthony McGill in the third round. He only won one match at the venue stage in the next nine ranking events, before reaching the third round of the Gibraltar Open with victories over Rory McLeod and Stephen Maguire. Selt would lose 4âÂÂ1 to Judd Trump. He could not qualify for the World Championship as he was beaten 10âÂÂ6 by Hossein Vafaei in the second round.
Selt's best result for the season came in the Gibraltar Open, in which he knocked out Mitchell Mann and Liang Wenbo before losing to Kyren Wilson in the last 16.
Selt secured his maiden ranking title at the Indian Open after beating John Higgins 4âÂÂ2 in the semi-final and Lyu Haotian 5âÂÂ3 in the final. He was unable to qualify for the World Snooker Championship after losing 10âÂÂ4 to Zhao Xintong in the final qualifying round.
In July 2019, Selt reached the semi-final of the Riga Masters after wins over Jimmy Robertson, Lu Ning, and Mark King before being defeated by the eventual champion Yan Bingtao. He failed to qualify for the World Snooker Championship again after being defeated by Kurt Maflin in the final qualifying round, losing 10âÂÂ1.
Selt reached another semi-final of a ranking event after defeating Stephen Hendry, Barry Hawkins, Kyren Wilson, Soheil Vahedi, and Chris Wakelin before losing to the eventual champion Judd Trump. Most notably, his first-round match against Hendry, the seven-time world champion, was Hendry's first professional match since his retirement in 2012. In April 2021, after dispatching Scott Donaldson 10âÂÂ3 in the final qualifying round, Selt qualified for the World Snooker Championship for the first time in 6 years. He drew Barry Hawkins in the first round and was defeated 3âÂÂ10.
In the third round of the 2021 UK Championship, Selt caused a major upset by defeating third seed Judd Trump 6âÂÂ3; he lost in the next round against Barry Hawkins by a reverse of that scoreline, after having led 3âÂÂ1. He also reached the quarter-finals of the next ranking event, the Scottish Open, losing in the deciding frame against eventual champion Luca Brecel. At the inaugural Turkish Masters, Selt reached the second ranking final of his career, notably defeating a resurgent Ding Junhui 6âÂÂ5 in the semi-final. However, he lost in the final against Trump by a scoreline of 4âÂÂ10. Selt reached the final qualifying round of the World Championship where he faced Thepchaiya Un-Nooh whom he had beaten in all previous professional encounters; however, from leading 6âÂÂ4, Selt went on to lose 7âÂÂ10.
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