Selby Retains Classic Title

World number one Mark Selby won the Arcaden Paul Hunter Classic for the second consecutive year by beating Joe Swail 4-1 in the final in Germany.

The Betfair European Tour event, part of the Players Tour Championship series, drew huge crowds to its host city of Furth to see Leicester's 29-year-old Selby win his first title in 11 months.

It was nearly a fairytale finish for veteran Swail, who reached the semi-finals of the World Championship back in 2000 and 2001 but dropped off the main tour at the end of last season after 22 years as a professional. Competing as an amateur, the Ulsterman beat the likes of Shaun Murphy and Barry Hawkins to reach the final, before being denied the trophy by Selby.

Two-time Masters champion Selby went 3-0 up with top breaks of 56, 64 and 43. Swail, age 42, pulled one back with an 83 before Selby closed out victory in frame five with an 85 to win the 12,000 Euro top prize.

Selby suffered from a neck injury at the end of last season but is now fully recovered. "I've been struggling for a while with the injury and my game so it's great to win another title," said the player who beat Mark Davis in the final in Furth last year.

"I didn't make many mistakes in the final and that gives me a lot of confidence going into the rest of the season. And it's good to be guaranteed a place in the PTC Grand Finals already."

Earlier in the semi-finals, Selby ended the impressive run of India's Pankaj Advani by a 4-2 scoreline, while Swail edged out Barry Hawkins 4-3 with a double on the final black to resolve a dramatic deciding frame.

The Players Tour Championship is a series of ten events, four in the UK and six on the Betfair European Tour, with the top 25 on the final Order of Merit going through to the Grand Finals in March. They will be joined by seven players from the Asian PTC Order of Merit.


The next event is UKPTC3 from September 5-9 in Gloucester.

Results (last 16 onwards):


Last 16

Ryan Day 4-2 Jamie Jones
Pankaj Advani 4-3 Mark King
Michael Wild 3-4 Ken Doherty
Robbie Williams 3-4 Mark Selby
Andrew Norman 4-3 Ricky Walden
Shaun Murphy 2-4 Joe Swail
Michael White 4-2 Dominic Dale
Barry Hawkins 4-1 Thepchaiya Un-Nooh


Quarter Finals
Ryan Day 1-4 Pankaj Advani
Ken Doherty 0-4 Mark Selby
Andrew Norman 3-4 Joe Swail
Michael White 1-4 Barry Hawkins


Semi Finals
Pankaj Advani 2-4 Mark Selby
Joe Swail 4-3 Barry Hawkins

Final
Mark Selby 4-1 Joe Swail