then he suffered a 6–1 defeat by Barry Hawkins. 2022–23 season Compared to his last season performance, Selby's form had improved, as he reached the quarter-finals of the British, the Northern Ireland and the Scottish Open, the semi-finals of the Champion of Champions, then went on and won the English Open for the second time, claiming his first ranking trophy since his World Championship win in 2021. In the semi-final of the tournament, he also recorded his first win over Neil Robertson in two years, after seven consecutive losses to him, including this year's Northern Ireland and Scottish Open defeats. Personal life Born in Leicester on 19 June 1983, Selby began playing pool at the age of eight and snooker aged nine. Malcolm Thorne, brother of Leicester-born snooker player Willie Thorne, spotted Selby's snooker ability and offered him free practice at his brother's snooker club, which Selby took full advantage of, practising in the evenings after school. Abandoned by his mother at the age of eight, Selby lost his father to cancer when he was 16, after which he lived with family friend and snooker coach Alan Perkins. He contemplated suicide after his father's death, but Perkins encouraged him to devote himself to snooker, telling him his father would have wanted him to keep playing and trying his best. Two months later, Selby joined the main professional tour, having left school with no qualifications. His nickname, "The Jester from Leicester", was given to him by snooker compere Richard Beare because Selby liked to have "a laugh and a joke" with him. Selby's wife Vikki Layton, who often attends his major matches, is a former Irish international pool player born in Ipswich. They began dating in 2006 after meeting on the professional circuit. They became engaged in August 2010 after Selby proposed on a gondola in Venice, and were married in Cancún, Mexico in May 2011. They have one daughter, Sofia, who was born in 2014. Selby has been a fan of Leicester City F.C. since childhood. His 2014 World Championship victory happened on the day that Leicester City celebrated their promotion to the Premier League with an open-top bus parade. Two years later, he won his second world title just 13 minutes after the team sealed their first Premier League title. Selby is also a fan of darts and has played in exhibition matches at Ibstock in Leicestershire, beating Eric