Moment Mark Selby drops head in despair live on BBC at draw ‘he didn’t want’ for World Snooker Championship 2025

MARK SELBY dropped his head in despair after getting the draw “he didn’t want” at the World Snooker Championship.

The British ace is just one of the big names competing at this year’s epic event at the Crucible.

Mark Selby dropped his head in despair during the World Snooker Championship draw

GettyHe will play pal Ben Woollaston in the opening round[/caption]

Selby is currently number four in the world rankings.

And he is hungry for victory after losing the Tour Championship final to John Higgins 10 days ago.

However, Selby’s path to glory at the World Championship will not be straightforward.

The draw for this year’s tournament was made live on the BBC.

Selby was in the studio as his name was pulled out of the hat.

But he dropped his head dramatically while rolling his eyes after discovering he will play Ben Woollaston in the opening round.

The pair, who both hail from Leicester, are close mates and have played each other seven times before.

Selby has won five of those meetings, including their most recent one at the 2023 British Open.

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But his pained expression showed he would have rather avoided Woollaston at the World Championship.

And it was quickly picked up on by BBC host Rob Walker, who declared: “Oh no. One of the matches he didn’t want.”

2025 World Snooker Championship draw

Kyren Wilson (ENG) (1) v Lei Peifan (CHN)

Jak Jones (WAL) (16) v Zhao Xintong (CHN)

Neil Robertson (AUS) (9) v Chris Wakelin (ENG)

Mark Allen (NIR) (8) v Fan Zhengyi (CHN)

Ronnie O’Sullivan (ENG) (5) v Ali Carter (ENG)

Zhang Anda (CHN) (12) v Pang Junxu (CHN)

Si Jiahui (CHN) (13) v David Gilbert (ENG)

Mark Selby (ENG) (4) v Ben Woollaston (ENG)

John Higgins (SCO) (3) v Joe O’Connor (ENG)

Xiao Guodong (CHN) (14) v Matthew Selt (ENG)

Barry Hawkins (ENG) (11) v Hossein Vafaei (IRN)

Mark Williams (WAL) (6) v Wu Yize (CHN)

Luca Brecel (BEL) (7) v Ryan Day (WAL)

Ding Junhui (CHN) (10) v Zak Surety (ENG)

Shaun Murphy (ENG) (15) v Daniel Wells (WAL)

Judd Trump (ENG) (2) v Zhou Yuelong (CHN)

But it wasn’t the only horror tie served up.

Ronnie O’Sullivan will face nemesis Ally Carter if he decides to play after their X-rated war of words following the 2024 Masters.

The Rocket has yet to make a definite decision on whether to appear at the tournament for the 33rd successive time, having withdrawn from five ranking events this year on medical grounds.

Selby had his say on O’Sullivan and Carter’s draw, declaring: “I don’t think either of them will be happy with that.

“It’s great that Ronnie is in the competition. We have not seen him since January. I wanted him to play. It seems he is playing and that is fantastic for the game.

“Carter is probably one of the toughest qualifiers to draw again. He has played Ronnie in two world finals and the Masters final. Yeah, that’s a horrible draw.”

List of all-time Snooker World Champions

BELOW is a list of snooker World Champions by year.

The record is for the modern era, widely considered as dating from the 1968-69 season, when the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA) took control of the sport.

The first World Championships ran from 1927 – with a break from 1941-45 because of World War II and 1958-63 because of a dispute in the sport.

Joe Davis (15), Fred Davis and John Pulman (both 8) were the most successful players during that period.

Stephen Hendry and Ronnie O’Sullivan share the record for the most titles in the modern era, with seven each.

1969 – John Spencer
1970 – Ray Reardon
1971 – John Spencer
1972 – Alex Higgins
1973 – Ray Reardon (2)
1974 – Ray Reardon (3)
1975 – Ray Reardon (4)
1976 – Ray Reardon (5)
1977 – John Spencer (2)
1978 – Ray Reardon (6)
1979 – Terry Griffiths
1980 – Cliff Thorburn
1981 – Steve Davis
1982 – Alex Higgins (2)
1983 – Steve Davis (2)
1984 – Steve Davis (3)
1985 – Dennis Taylor
1986 – Joe Johnson
1987 – Steve Davis (4)
1988 – Steve Davis (5)
1989 – Steve Davis (6)
1990 – Stephen Hendry
1991 – John Parrott
1992 – Stephen Hendry (2)
1993 – Stephen Hendry (3)
1994 – Stephen Hendry (4)
1995 – Stephen Hendry (5)
1996 – Stephen Hendry (6)
1997 – Ken Doherty
1998 – John Higgins
1999 – Stephen Hendry (7)
2000 – Mark Williams
2001 – Ronnie O’Sullivan
2002 – Peter Ebdon
2003 – Mark Williams (2)
2004 – Ronnie O’Sullivan (2)
2005 – Shaun Murphy
2006 – Graeme Dott
2007 – John Higgins (2)
2008 – Ronnie O’Sullivan (3)
2009 – John Higgins (3)
2010 – Neil Robertson
2011 – John Higgins (4)
2012 – Ronnie O’Sullivan (4)
2013 – Ronnie O’Sullivan (5)
2014 – Mark Selby
2015 – Stuart Bingham
2016 – Mark Selby (2)
2017 – Mark Selby (3)
2018 – Mark Williams (3)
2019 – Judd Trump
2020 – Ronnie O’Sullivan (6)
2021 – Mark Selby (4)
2022 – Ronnie O’Sullivan (7)
2023 – Luca Brecel
2024 – Kyren Wilson