vivdunstan

So, this month is perhaps one of my craziest experiences ever. I got home from Leicester last night, and I'm on my way to a week in Germany with my two best friends (let's call them C and K) tomorrow. I've had only one full day at home, which I've spent unpacking from one trip and repacking to the next. I had originally packed two separate bags before leaving for Leicester, but now I ended up repacking everything to use the same bag I had already used, as it turned out to be very convenient and slightly more spacious than the other one.

The Germany trip is actually something that was decided in the summer, when K and I started talking about going on a mini-cruise to Kiel in the autumn. This is something we've done a few times in the past, and it was always enjoyable. It doesn't have to be very expensive, either, if you manage to get a good price for the tickets. Only, C immediately got fired up about the idea, and said that he wouldn't be able to do just the mini-cruise, because that's too much stress in a short time for him, but we could make it longer and he'd join.

And so... we made it longer. One week in Germany coming up! Staying in Kiel, going to Hamburg... and probably something else that we'll decide once we're there.

To think that this comes right after the most magical week in Leicester...

I don't even know where to begin about the Leicester trip. Of course, this is Mark Selby's home city, so it was already emotional for me to stay there for a week, thinking about the fact that this is the city he knows for his whole life. Even though it did not always treat him nicely, it's still home to him and he still lives there. For some reason, that's its own level of emotional to me.

Then, the tournament! Wow! So much joy!

This was the Champion Of Champions, meaning it's contested between all the players who have won at least one tournament in the past year + the women's world champion and the seniors world champion. 16 players in total. These are divided into 4 groups of 4 players, and the first four days of the tournament are the "group stage" where one group plays each day, and the group winner progresses to the semifinal. Then there are semifinals and a final from Friday-Sunday.

So, unlike a regular tournament, you don't get to follow one player every day. But you will have seen the finalists play on three different days, if you're there for the whole tournament.

And, the important stuff first: Mark WON the tournament!

Let's say that again: Mark Selby is the 2025 Champion Of Champions!!!

He played very well, too. In the group stage he defeated Stephen Maguire by a whitewash, 4-0. And then Mark Williams by 6-5 in the group final. Believe me, I was exploding with joy at that win, considering the fact that it was such a tight match. Apparently someone saw me do a fistpump when I was leaving the arena immediately after it, but I don't remember that reaction myself.

Then, in the semifinal, it was time for a meeting with Neil Robertson. I was quite nervous about that, as Neil has beaten Mark too often for my liking these past couple of seasons. But not this time - this time it was a clear Mark win, 6-2.

And then... the final against Judd Trump. Now, Judd is the current world number one, and in full flow I think he actually deserves that position. However, he's not been at the height of his powers so far this season, and hasn't won a tournament in the current season yet - and we're now 10 tournaments in (counting the Champion of Champions). But still - even Judd at less than his best is still a fantastic player and a dangerous opponent.

The final didn't start that well from Mark's point of view, either. Judd had a 3-1 lead at the first interval. It was a really high quality start from both of them, though, with three centuries in the first four frames - Mark also made one in the frame he won there. However, after the interval Mark turned it around to lead 5-4 going into the evening session.

In the evening, Judd took the first frame of the session to tie 5-5. But from then on, Mark nicked one of the next frames by untangling a bunch of reds that had been gathered together near one of the corner pockets. It looked almost impossible to untangle the knot and still get playable balls to continue the break, but he did it masterfully. Not sure if that was for the 6-5 or 7-5 lead, but it was one of those. Definitely a moment that felt very decisive, as it must give confidence to be able to perform to that level.

In the end, Mark finished the match with no less than three centuries in a row, to win it 10-5.

Believe me, I was already crying when he was on 70-ish points in the final frame. And then I cried again during the trophy ceremony, and while seeing him celebrate the victory with his family.

I had dreamt of getting to see Mark lift a trophy at a tournament I'm at - and now I have. And it happened in front of his home crowd, no less!

What a moment! What a day! And of course: what a player, and what a man!

I have so much love for this guy, you can't even imagine! ❤️ Except I'm sure some of you can.

Now, as for the more personal stories - there are many of them from this tournament, but the most important one is the meeting with Mark and his family after the final:

There were 8 of us waiting for him outside afterwards. 7 of them immediately surrounded him when he came out with his wife Vikki and daughter Sofia, while Vikki immediately came over to hug me. I talked with them a little while he signed stuff with the other people. And then he came over as well, and I got to congratulate him on the win. And I said that it meant a lot to see him win in front of his home crowd, and that I was crying during the ceremony. He said "bless you" at that. Later he asked me about my flight home, and I think I messed up my English while trying to answer a relatively easy question from him 🤭 He gave me a hug, though. Like, properly. I also got a hug from another person who was with them, but I don't know who he was.

Also, it was also so lovely to me how he kept touching my shoulder while we talked. When I got back to the other fans in the group, some of them remarked that it was very interesting to see, because Mark seems a very private and not very physical person. That's also true to my experiences in the first meetings with him - he will happily stand beside you for a photo, but he won't hold his hand on your back or touch you in any way. He just... stands there. He's nice, but not naturally very warm or willing to touch fans even casually.

...and then... what he did with me this time around! It's incredible to me to realise that he seems to feel comfortable enough with me to do this, now - because I don't think he would be like that if he didn't? And it's also wild to me that both he and his family know me now, and that I got to have this moment with all of them. ❤️

Also, there was another cute moment with Mark after the semifinal. I was with a Belgian girl I had met at the tournament - she's a Mark fan as well, so we immediately bonded - but quite soon over more things than just him, too. Well, we decided to wait for him outside after the match had finished, but when he came out of the building, it was from a door very far from where we we standing. We agreed that we weren't going to behave like crazy, scary, stalker-y fans, so we didn't try to run up to where he was. We just let him go on, and he had his back to us pretty much the entire time, so I don't think he even saw us at that point. We were a little meh about not being able to get close to him, but decided to stay because he was heading towards the car park, so we thought we could at least see his car.

Okay... so he comes to pass us in the car. It's dark, and it's late, and I didn't really expect him to notice us beyond the usual traffic awareness. But he stops the car and rolls down the window and asks us if we're okay. We get to congratulate him on a great match, and he says "see you tomorrow," before he drives off.

Let's think about this for a moment - he absolutely didn't have to acknowledge us like that, but he chose to stop and give us that moment of warmth and care and "I see you, and you matter", and it was just such a lovely experience to have.

I had a couple of nice experiences with other players, too.

Let's mention the one with Neil Robertson after he had defeated John Higgins in his group stage final, too. I know this is pretty much the same text as in my previous post, but I just want to have everything together in one post, too.

We had a storm and heavy rainfall in Leicester, so I decided to get a taxi back to the hotel. That took a while to arrive, so the security people let me wait inside at the arena. Meaning I was one of the last to leave.

So, Neil comes out from the players' area, and he goes right over to me and gives me a kind of hug (not a full on hug, but something kinda like a hug?), and asks if I wanted a photo. His exact words? "Come on, let's make Rob jealous."

(For info: Rob is a guy who comes to a lot of tournaments. He's a massive Neil fan. And I was with him once when I met Neil in Cheltenham six weeks back, meaning he knows that we know each other - I'm absolutely stunned that he'd remember that, though!)

So, we take the pic - which comes out great, btw - and I tell Neil (with a little laugh) that he scares me ahead of the semifinal (vs Mark) when he plays this well. I also congratulated him on the win vs John, of course. And... he tells me to just enjoy the semifinal, to have fun watching. He's completely calm about it, and I feel like he's basically saying between the lines that neither he not Mark are stressing about it, so I shouldn't, either.

Just: what a moment! Not something I'd ever thought I'd experience!

So, let's mention one last, lovely moment, too. On one of the semifinal days, I decided to go out for some shopping as the snooker did not start until 7pm anyway. I bought some Christmas gifts at the Christmas market, and a cool, fluffy jacket for myself at Blue Banana. Then I went to Highcross shopping centre, mostly to look around what's there. I wasn't even looking for something specific, I think - it's just fun to be in places like that.

Well, suddenly Judd Trump is coming right towards me. He was with his mate or something, and they were walking by almost right next to me. And Judd looks at me and says 'hello', like he knows me. I managed to say hello back like a normal person, and then we both walked on in opposite directions. I had to take a moment to myself after that, though.

I mean - Judd casually says hello to me in a shopping centre, away from the venue? In a place where he didn't need to acknowledge me at all, but he still did? That was so cool!

I'm so glad I got to experience all of this. It's been a magical tournament to be at, in every possible way.