Snooker - World Snooker Championship - The Crucible Theatre, Sheffield, Britain - April 22, 2024 England's Mark Selby in action during his first round game against against England's Joe O'Connor REUTERS/Andrew Boyers
(Reuters) - Four-times world snooker champion Mark Selby is considering his future because the sport has adversely impacted his mental health, he said after his 10-6 first-round defeat by Joe O’Connor on Monday.
Selby, who won the world title in 2014, 2016, 2017 and 2021 and was runner-up last year, was disappointed with his performance against Crucible debutant O'Connor as he suffered his first opening round loss in the tournament since 2018.
"I will definitely still review it (my future) because I stopped myself from playing well when I had my chances and I can't keep doing that because it makes me ill and gets me down mentally," Selby told the BBC.
"I will sit down with (my wife) Vikki and see what the options are. It will be a big decision but if I carry on playing I need help, probably on the mental side of it, to enjoy the game a bit more.
"I don't want to go through the motions and feel like playing is a chore," the 40-year-old Briton added.
"I will take a long time to think about it over the summer. Away from snooker I'm happy, then when I come to snooker it's the opposite."
(Reporting by Shifa Jahan in Bengaluru, editing by Ed Osmond)
