In the latest news on December 29, 2021, Beijing time, four-time world champion Mark Selby said that Judd Trump is a great snooker athlete, but if he wants to become the greatest athlete in history, he must start to win more three major championships. Selby, now 38, won his fourth professional world title in May, bringing his triple crown to nine. But that's far behind Ronnie O'Sullivan's 20, Stephen Hendry's 18 and Steve Davis's 15. Selby is currently tied for John Higgins' triple-majors accolades, but he has left Trump far behind.
Trump needed more honors for the three majors
After winning the 2011 British Championship, Trump won the Masters and World Championship in 2019, which allowed him to successfully make up grand slam honors. But Selby thinks Trump still needs more three-time champions to prove his status. Selby said: "Although Trump has established himself as great, to be regarded as a great man of all time, he must increase his three major championship honors. A player like Trump, he's a great player, but he still has only three big three-time champions, and some people will keep mentioning that. I'm sure he'll raise that number at the end of his career, but for now, his three major accolades really don't prove his status. ”
Selby: Trump needs to work harder
In Selby's view, Trump is still very young and a great player, but he is still some way from becoming one of the greatest players. Selby said: "There is no doubt that Trump is still very young. He's also a great player, but to be a player like Hendry, O'Sullivan, Higgins, Davis, Mark Williams, he needs to go a step further in the three majors or he won't be able to join that rank. Hendry and O'Sullivan are seen as kings of Grand Slams and three majors, just like Federer, Nadal and Djokovic in tennis. If Trump wants to be able to enter the ranks of eternal greatness, then he has to work harder. Because he still has too few honors in the three major competitions, he still needs to win more championships there. ”
Selby: Getting past Hendry is a tough task
After talking about Trump, Selby also spoke about Hendry's claim that the four-time world champion could reach or surpass Hendry's record seven world titles, but Selby saw it as a difficult task. Selby said: "Hendry said I am currently the most likely and probably the only one who can match his record of seven world titles or even complete the overtaking. But objectively speaking, this is very difficult. Trying to break Hendry's record would be to win four more world titles, and my current world title is only half that statistic. Even if it is to be on par with it, it will be another three world champions, which is a very difficult task. I'm sitting here right now and telling you that if I win another world title before I declare the end of my career, I'll be very happy because I know how difficult it really is. Then I'll probably win two more of the other three majors, the British Championship or the Masters Final. Because they are also one of the criteria that everyone remembers and uses as a criterion for judging the success of your career. So I think it's almost impossible to surpass Hendry's record. ”