Mark Selby inspires name of Noppon Saengkham’s daughter as snooker star misses birth for Crucible

By Ben Parsons at the Crucible

Mark Selby was the inspiration for the name of snooker star Noppon Saengkham’s new-born daughter.

Thailand’s Saengkham missed the birth of his first child to secure a World Championship win.

The world No.38 impressively defeated Belgian Luca Brecel 10-5 at the Crucible, just hours after his wife gave birth.

And the new dad revealed his daughter is called ‘Believe’ after a supreme Selby sporting comeback.

Leicester’s Selby is a four-time Crucible king and Saengkham’s snooker hero.

"I got the idea of the name from when Mark Selby was 10-4 down against John Higgins in the 2017 World final," he said.

"He said 'believe, believe, believe' when the camera was on him - and he came back to win.

"He knows I like him. I love his game. His game is to never give up. That is why I like him."

Selby beat Higgins 18-15 to claim the third of his world crowns five years ago and is the defending champion at the Sheffield showpiece.

The 38-year-old started his bid for a fifth title with a gritty 10-7 victory over Welsh qualifier Jamie Jones.

But Selby has not won a ranking event this year and opened up on mental health struggles in January.

He took an extended seven-week break from the baize before arriving in the Steel City, and had considered not defending his title.

“Six or seven weeks ago when I was pulling out needing to work on myself, I wasn’t really sure back then whether I was going to play in the World Championship,” Selby said after beating Jones.

“Don’t get me wrong, I’m happy to win but it was a matter of just playing and trying to enjoy it."

Selby takes on Chinese star Yan Bingtao in the last 16, while Saengkham comes up against Scottish great John Higgins.