Mark Selby (Eng) v Mark King (Eng)

Selby reached the final as an unseeded player last May and produced a stoic comeback against John Higgins before ultimately being defeated 18-14.

The question is whether it will be fulfilled this year or years to come.

Selby came by his jester tag due to his tendency to clown around on and off the table but since he knuckled down and changed his coach, his career has taken off.

That tag does Selby a disservice, in fact he is a very flexible player who is capable of changing the tempo of his game depending on circumstances.

The most significant improvement in his game has been his break building.

Whereas once he would fail to convert frame winning opportunities, he has become much more clinical in this respect and his long potting ranks up there with the best.

That combined with his excellent safety play and tough match play streak makes him a fearsome all-round player.

Selby’s opponent in the opening round should not provide him with any sleepless nights. Mark King will need to go up by as many levels in his performance as the name of the band his namesake performed with back in the 1980s if he is to remove Selby at the first hurdle.

King is something of a pantomime villain this year as it was he who defeated the ever popular Jimmy White in the final qualifying round meaning the Whirlwind will not be blowing in to the Crucible auditorium this year.

If this match was the best of nine frames in the Grand Prix or the Malta Cup then I would give Mark King more of a chance because Selby can sometimes start slowly in matches, as demonstrated by Selby’s two earliest exits this season coming in the round robin tournaments.

But in a match of this distance, Selby will have too much staying power and just too much quality for King to keep up. Prediction: Selby 10-5 King